"'Not Like Your Degree': Uddhav Thackeray's Reply to PM Modi's 'Fake Shiv Sena' Jibe"
Hitting out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 'Fake Shiv Sena' remark, Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray on Friday said his party was not like the prime minister's degree.
"The Shiv Sena, founded by the Shiv Sena pramukh (Bal Thackeray) to fight for the rights of sons of soil, is being called fake. It is not your degree to call it fake," Thackeray said.
Thackeray's retaliation came while speaking at a campaign rally at Boisar near Mumbai for his party's Palghar Lok Sabha constituency candidate Bharti Kamdi.
Earlier this week, at a rally in Maharashtra, Modi had dubbed the Thackeray-led Sena as fake.
"INDIA alliance partner DMK is talking about finishing Sanatan and linking Sanatana Dharma to malaria and dengue. And the Congress and the fake Shiv Sena are calling the same people for rallies in Maharashtra," the PM had said.
He also vowed to scrap the Vadhavan port project in Palghar district, which he said is opposed by local fishermen.
Attacking the Union government and BJP, Thackeray alleged that good projects were being taken to Gujarat, while environmentally destructive projects were being introduced in Maharashtra. He also assured that a new airport will be built in Palghar.
Thackeray further said he had visited the Vadhavan area and interacted with the villagers and fishermen in the late 90s. After his interaction he had conveyed their opposition to the port project to his father, Sena chief Bal Thackeray, who said the project should be scrapped, the former chief minister said.
Earlier this year, the Vadhavan port project received environmental clearance from the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change.
The Rs 76,220-crore project is being developed by the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT) and Maharashtra Maritime Board.
Thackeray, meanwhile, also accused the BJP of being "corrupt" after Amol Kirtikar, his party's North-West Mumbai candidate, was summoned by the Enforcement Directorate in the "khichdi" scam in the Mumbai civic body.
Notably, after the rally ended, Thackeray took a suburban local train to return to Mumbai, 110 km from Boisar. Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut, Thackeray's personal assistant Milind Narvekar and a few other party leaders accompanied him in the first class compartment.
(With inputs from agencies)
