Anyone threatening our workers will be made to sleep on ice slab, says Aaditya Thackeray
Mumbai, Nov 15: Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray has said anyone who threatens the workers of his party during the ongoing election campaign will be "made to sleep on ice slab", sparking a war of words with rival Sena leader Ramdas Kadam.
Speaking in Dapoli in coastal Maharashtra on Thursday, he dubbed as "traitors" Kadam and his son, local MLA Yogesh Kadam, who belong to the Shiv Sena led by Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde.
Thackeray, a former state minister, was speaking at a campaign rally ahead of the November 20 assembly elections.
"It is my responsibiity to make anyone who threatens you (Sena UBT workers) sleep on ice slab because we are forming the next government," he said.
Notably, forcing a person to lie on an ice slab was once known as a way of custodial torture.
Hitting back, Ramdas Kadam, a former Leader of Opposition in the legislative council, said his son was Aaditya Thackeray's friend when they were in the same party, but Aaditya later expelled people close to them in Dapoli.
Despite being the local MLA, Yogesh was sidelined during the Dapoli municipal council polls, his father claimed.
It was Aaditya Thackeray who was a traitor as he took away his ministry, Ramdas Kadam further said.
The senior Kadam was environment minister in the Devendra Fadnavis government, but he did not find place in the subsequent Uddhav Thackeray-led dispensation. Aaditya handled the environment portfolio in his father's government.
In 2022, after the Sena split, the Kadams sided with the faction led by Eknath Shinde.
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Congress using COVID-19 probe as weapon against BJP: MP K Sudhakar
Chikkaballapura (Karnataka), Nov 15: BJP MP K Sudhakar on Friday accused the Congress government of using the investigation into COVID-19 management during the BJP regime as a "political tool" against his party.
The Congress government, based on the recommendation of Justice John Michael D’Cunha, has initiated an investigation into alleged irregularities in COVID-19 management under the BJP’s administration.
“Let them investigate. They have turned investigations into weapons against us. We are ready for any probe. We worked with conscience and saved lives during COVID-19, while Congress leaders stayed indoors,” Sudhakar told reporters.
He defended the previous BJP government’s handling of the pandemic, highlighting the risks taken by officials and health department employees during the crisis.
Sudhakar criticised the Congress for altering the scope of the investigation, noting that the D’Cunha Commission had only submitted an interim report.
“The investigation is incomplete. Based on a preliminary inquiry report, a cabinet sub-committee led by Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar was formed. Within a month, they have also ordered the formation of a Special Investigation Team (SIT),” he said.
Responding to Congress allegations that the BJP government purchased PPE kits at Rs 2,100 each from China and Hong Kong instead of locally available kits priced at Rs 330, Sudhakar questioned the availability of PPE kits at the time.
“Where were the PPE kits? The then Chief Minister Yediyurappa and Health Minister Sriramulu procured them through discussions with the Centre and imports from China,” he said.
Sudhakar dismissed the Congress’s claims as "politically motivated", and alleged that the party aims to "tarnish" BJP leaders’ reputations.
“The Congress wants to portray BJP leaders as villains, but this will not benefit them. The wheel of time keeps turning, and we will see where they stand when it does,” he remarked.
