Will Uddhav ask Rahul Gandhi to apologise for insulting Savarkar? asks Shinde-led Shiv Sena

While responding to the press conference by the Opposition leaders ahead of the INDIA meeting, Shiv Sena MP Gajanan Kirtikar said that all these parties are the epitome of dynasty politics.

Kirtikar said that of the 28 parties in the alliance 17 of them are trying to further the cause of dynasty politics instead of the country’s development.

“There are a lot of contradictions between the constituents of INDIA and the sad picture is that Uddhav Thackeray is going to welcome the leaders of the parties who have taken a stance against Hindutva. Thackeray is taking the initiative to make the directionless Rahul Gandhi the Prime Minister. He will welcome and host all those who are anti-Hindu be it Samajwadi Party leaders who ordered to fire at the ‘Kar Sevaks’, Lalu Prasad Yadav who stopped L K Advani’s rath yatra for the cause of Ram Mandir,” Kirtikar said.

Meanwhile, Minister and Sena leader Dipak Kesarkar also came down heavily on Uddhav who “has abandoned Bal Thackeray’s ideologies and hailed British’s contribution to India’s development”.

“Weren’t you ashamed to say that the British, who looted our country, also contributed to India’s development?” asked Kesarkar.

He further reminded that Mumbai, the venue of the INDIA meet, has the identity of Shiv Sena founder Bal Thackeray’s Mumbai. When Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar had insulted Veer Savarkar, then Balasaheb had ensured that he never entered Mumbai, the minister said, while terming Uddhav the puppet of the Congress.

“Will all these leaders who have come to Mumbai visit Balasaheb’s memorial? Are you going to question them for insulting Savarkar? Balasaheb supported abolishing of 370 Article in Jammu and Kashmir. Is this going to be discussed during the meeting? Balasaheb had said that he would not allow Sena to become Congress. Balasaheb’s thoughts that he will dissolve the party but will not join the Congress are being trampled now,” Kesarkar said.

The minister said that if Uddhav holds the allies in such high regard, he should take all of them to Balasaheb’s memorial and make them pay their respects to the leader.

‘Renaming UPA as INDIA is like old wine in new bottle’

Kesarkar said that renaming the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) as INDIA is nothing but an attempt to mislead people since UPA was a symbol of corruption.

“You changed the name because of massive corruption in ‘UPA’. You were never accepted by the people of the country. Hence the people rejected you…You have changed your name to INDIA. A new name ‘INDIA’ has been coined to shield their corrupt practices. But even if the name has changed, the people in the alliance remain the same. It’s nothing more than repackaging the old wine into a new bottle,” Kesarkar ridiculed.

The Shiv Sena leader said the corruption during the UPA governance came to light after Anna Hazare’s movement.

“Politics is based on ideologies but you have no ideology. If ideology is different then they can’t stay together. They are attempting to mislead people. But the people of Maharashtra will not fall for it,” Kesarkar asserted.

Kesarkar hails Modi’s competent leadership

Kesarkar took a jibe at the Opposition’s tall claims of pushing China back from Arunachal Pradesh if they come to power. “They cannot do it because they don’t have a firm leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Under PM Modi’s tenure, the country has seen significant progress. Previously, we didn’t manufacture weapons in our country. Today, countries from around the world are eager to invest in India,” he said adding that this investment will create employment opportunities.