One who will trounce Sena yet to be born: Uddhav Thackeray
Mumbai, Jan 13: One who could trounce the Shiv Sena was yet to be born, party chief Uddhav Thackeray said, days after BJP chief Amit Shah remarked that his party will thrash former allies if a pre-poll tie-up did not materialise ahead of the Lok Sabha polls.
In a vitriolic attack on those talking about the caste of Lord Hanuman, Thackeray said if such remarks had been made by a person of some other religion, people would have broken that person's teeth.
In a veiled warning to the Sena, Shah had recently said that if an alliance happened, the BJP will ensure victory for its allies, but if it did not, the party will thrash its former allies in the coming Lok Sabha polls.
Slamming the comments, Thackeray, whose party is an ally of the ruling BJP at the Centre and in Maharashtra, said, "I have heard words like 'patak denge' from someone. One who will trounce the Shiv Sena is yet to be born."
Speaking at a public rally in the Worli area here, he also took a dig at Shah for likening the forthcoming Lok Sabha polls to the third battle of Panipat.
"Once you lose the confidence of people, you are bound to lose any battle. When people lose their confidence in you (BJP), they will pull you down from power," he said.
Taking a swipe at the 'Modi wave' before the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, he said, "The Sena has seen enough 'waves' in its journey."
Unlike the BJP, he said, the Sena has raised the Ram temple construction issue before the polls to "expose" those who used the issue as a poll plank.
"I raise the Ram mandir issue during elections only to expose others who always use it as an election plank," the Sena chief said.
"Just tell us how the Congress is hindering the temple construction. The Congress was shown its place in 2014 for its deeds. The party could not even get the post of Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha," he said.
He also asked the BJP how could it build the Ram temple when it has allies like Nitish Kumar of the JD(U) and Ram Vilas Paswan of the LJP opposing it.
"The BJP should come clean on it," he added.
Thackeray, however, clarified that when his party talks about hollow promises, it does not necessarily mean they are criticising the government.
He said some BJP leaders were now calling Prime Minister Narendra Modi an incarnation of Lord Vishnu.
"How come the incarnation of Lord Vishnu can't get the Ram temple built," he said in remarks laced with sarcasm.
He said if the BJP was treating Ram temple construction as just another "jumla" (rhetoric), then there was no meaning of the government and its work.
"You have a leader who talks about caste of our God, Hanuman. If a similar thing had happened in some other religion, people would have broken that person's teeth," he said.
He also demanded income tax waiver for the upper caste people having income up to Rs 8 lakh per annum and getting benefits of the Centre's 10 per cent reservation under economically weaker category.
Thackeray said elections in future should be contested over the issues like god, country and religion.
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Rajsthan Royals beat Punjab Kings by 6 wickets
Mullanpur (PTI): Rajasthan Royals defeated Punjab Kings by six wickets in their Indian Premier League match here on Tuesday.
Invited to bat, opener Prabhsimran Singh scored 59 up front while Marcus Stoinis provided the final flourish with an unbeaten 62 off 22 balls as Punjab Kings posted 222 for 4.
The Royals then put up a collective batting effort to overhaul the target with four balls to spare.
Earlier, leg spinner Yash Punja picked up two wickets for the visitors.
Brief Scores:
Punjab Kings: 222 for 4 in 20 overs (Prabhsimran Singh 59, Marcus Stoinis 62 not out; Yash Punja 2/41).
Rajasthan Royals: 228 for 4 in 19.2 overs (Yashasvi Jasiwal 51, Donovan Ferreira 52 not out; Yuzvendra Chahal 3/36)
