What does secular mean? It's what is written in Constitution,' says Uddhav

Mumbai: The party was only going by what was prescribed in the Constitution, said Maharashtra’s new Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Thursday to a question on Shiv Sena embracing secularism.

Addressing his first press conference as Chief Minister, Uddhav Thackeray was asked whether his party's decision to tie up with the Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) amounted to the Shiv Sena accepting secularism. "What does secular mean? It is what's written in the Constitution," he replied.

Hours before the swearing-in ceremony, leaders of the ‘Maha Vikas Aghadi’ had laid down their joint vision on secularism at a press meet.

NCP leader Jayant Patil along with Shiv Sena’s Ekanth Shinde said: "Secularism means that Hindus would remain Hindus and Muslims would remain Muslims. This was for those who don't understand this."

According to a NDTV report, the Shiv Sena faced criticism after it broke its tie with the BJP and allied with the Congress and the NCP.

On Thursday, the hashtag #SorryBalasaheb trended on Twitter. The insinuation here was that Uddhav Thackeray had betrayed his father Bal Thackeray's Hindutva legacy by allying with ideological rivals.

Earlier, former chief minister Devendra Fadnavis addressed media against Uddhav Thackeray, proclaiming that the ‘Shiv Sena's Hindutva now lies at the feet of (Congress president) Sonia Gandhi’.

He also said that the alliance between the three parties would act as a three-wheeler whose wheels move in opposite directions.