‘3 parties strong in NDA…ED, income tax and CBI’: Uddhav Thackeray hits out at BJP

“After many years, I learnt that the amoeba called NDA is still alive in this country. In order to counter the alliance of patriotic leaders of the country, which is called INDIA, our Prime Minister suddenly convened a meeting of 36 parties (part of the BJP-led NDA). Actually, they don’t need 36 parties. Currently, three parties are strong in NDA, which are ED, income tax and CBI,” Thackeray said.

“Old allies like Shiv Sena and Akali Dal have already left NDA and some of the parties in the NDA meeting did not even have a single MP,” he added.

The leaders of 36 parties that are a part of the NDA had attended a meeting convened by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Delhi on July 18. On the same day, 26 Opposition parties, including the Congress, the Sharad Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party, and the Shiv Sena (UBT), among others, had met in Bengaluru. The alliance was named the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA).

Thackeray also slammed the Centre over the ongoing ethnic violence in Manipur and asked why PM Modi was unwilling to visit Manipur to resolve the issue.

“I am mentioning Manipur again and again because Manipur is a part of our country. I fear that Manipur is on the verge of breaking away (from the country). The double-engine (BJP) government has failed in Manipur,” Thackeray said.

“Now, two states (Manipur and Kashmir) are burning. There is instability in two states at the same time. In Kashmir, there have been no elections for the last six years. It seems that the government does not wish to hold elections. That is why I am saying that 2024 will be a crucial year for the country. If this (BJP) government comes again in 2024, I don’t think democracy will survive in this country and elections will ever be held again,” the former Maharashtra chief minister said.

Thackeray said that democracy was under threat and common people would have to save democracy in the state and the country.

On the Uniform Civil Code, Thackeray dared the BJP to first bring in a law that would ban cow slaughter across the country and said that if the law was equal for everyone, central agencies should act against corrupt BJP leaders too, and not only against the Opposition party leaders.

Thackeray also alleged that the NDA came to the fore only before the elections and that once the elections ended, the NDA turned into the Modi-(Amit) Shah government.