BJP''s Hindutva fake, we are fighting for common man: Uddhav

Shiv Kumar

Tribune News Service

Mumbai, July 23

Indicating that his Shiv Sena's ties with the BJP were strained, Uddhav Thackeray said his loyalties lay with the voters rather than Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

“I am fighting for the common man's dream, not for Modi's dream,” Thackeray said in an interview to party mouthpiece Saamna.

The Shiv Sena's three-party interview with the newspaper just days after the party's MPs abstained from the no-confidence motion against the government in parliament is seen here as a major attempt to galvanise the rank and file against the BJP though both parties are part of the state and central governments.

“We had supported Modi openly in the past, and now we are also opposing him openly," Thackeray added.

The Shiv Sena chief also indicated his party was in no hurry to pull out of the Maharashtra and the central governments despite his criticism of Modi.

In the wide-ranging interview, Thackeray hit out at the BJP and its commitment to Hindutva among other issues. I don't accept the Hindutva that is being practiced in the country over the last three to four years. This is not our idea of Hindutva....Our women are unsafe today but you are protecting cows. You should not be targeting people for their choice of food," Thackeray said.

The Shiv Sena chief added that law and order had broken down with cow vigilantes running lose in the country and the BJP government has failed to control them.

Thackeray also accused the Narendra Modi government of failing to fulfil the promises it made before the 2014 Lok Sabha elections.

“The government has failed the people,” Thackeray said and raised the issues of demonetisation and the implementation of the Goods and Services Tax.

The Shiv Sena chief also indicated that his party would continue to oppose projects like the proposed West Coast oil refinery at Nanar in Ratnagiri and the Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train.

Thackeray’s interview comes a day after BJP president Amit Shah asked his party workers to prepare for contesting the 2019 elections on its own.