Won't accept 'one nation, one party' plan of BJP: Uddhav Thackeray takes a dig at Modi

Uddhav Thackeray, Shiv Sena (UBT) chief, Sunday said the "one nation, one party" plan of BJP would never be accepted. Thackeray claimed Prime Minister Narendra Modi's charisma is on the wane, reported PTI. Uddhav Thackeray was addressing a rally at Digras (Yavatmal district), the home turf of Shiv Sena MLA and state minister Sanjay Rathod, who is aligned with Chief Minister Eknath Shinde.

Thackeray said the “One nation, one law can be understood. But we will never accept one nation, one party plan of the BJP. He said 40 MLAs of Shiv Sena went to the BJP (last year) along with some independent legislators.Referring to the nine MLAs of the Ajit Pawar camp joining the Maharashtra government, Thackeray questioned the need to "steal" the Nationalist Congress Party if the government enjoys majority as claimed by the BJP."They (BJP) used to claim that their government (also comprising the Shinde faction of Sena and independents) enjoys a comfortable majority. If this is the case then what was the need to steal the NCP?" PTI reported quoting Uddhav Thackeray.   

The former chief minister also alleged the estranged ally Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) wanted Shiv Sena alone but not the Thackerays.“The BJP has now become a party of riff-raff," Thackeray said in an apparent reference to the recent induction of nine MLAs of NCP in the Shiv Sena-BJP government including Ajit Pawar.The former chief minister said the charisma if Prime Minister Narendra Modi's has faded which was witnessed in the recently-held Karnataka assembly elections. He (Modi) gave the 'Bajarang Bali ki Jai' slogan loudly, but God hit back with his mace and the BJP was whitewashed in Karnataka," Thackeray added.He said the defection of a few leaders from one party to another can be understood, but stealing an entire party should not be allowed in a democracy.“We have seen some MLAs jumping from one party to another ahead of elections. However, swallowing a party has to be stopped. In a democracy, every party should be allowed to express their views even though they are political opponents," Thackeray said.