Mumbai: Recalling the saffron alliance’s Lok Sabha election victory, Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray on Saturday said — in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the Bandra Kurla Complex business district — that his party and the Bhar-atiya Janata Party (BJP) would fight the upcoming Assembly poll together.
The Shiv Sena chief sta-rted his speech recalling how he greeted Mr Modi when they met earlier in the day. “I asked Modiji: ‘How many times should I congratulate on your bold decisions’,” he said.
The Sena chief added that he was proud that the Prime Minister had made the dreams of lakhs of Hindus come true. “PM Modi has provided leadership and direction to the country, which has an immense capacity to progress and develop. I thanked Modi for abrogating Article 370 (which gave special status to Jammu and Kashmir) and the Chandrayaan-2 mission... Now the nation awaits the construction of a Ram Mandir in Ayodhya and (introduction of) Uniform Civil Code,” he said.
Mr Thackeray further said that Kashmir is an integral part of India and it would remain so. “Modi has proved this in deeds and not just in words,” he added.
The Sena chief also said the nation was now awaiting the construction of a Ram Mandir in Ayodhya and Uniform Civil Code.
Admitting that his party sought power, albeit only to bring about development in Maharashtra, Mr Thackeray dispelled all talk of the Sena contesting independently.
“The alliance is ‘atal’ (inevitable). We want power.. No doubt about it, but we need it for developing the state. The ‘yuti’ (NDA alliance) would ret-urn to power in the state once again after polls. I am glad that PM Modi is providing facilities for the growing population in the state,” he said.
However, at the same time, he did not address the thorny issue of who would be the chief ministerial candidate. “Whatever we will do it will be done open-heartedly,” he said.
Later, Mr Modi in his speech lovingly referred to Mr Thackeray as his ‘younger brother’.
