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In Sillod, Uddhav urges BJP workers to join hands with Sena (UBT) to defeat Abdul Sattar

In the last two-and-a-half years, Thackeray has never spoken about BJP-Sena workers coming together in any city or constituency, said Sena sources.

Uddhav Thackeray BJP talksUddhav was speaking at a rally in Sillod Assembly constituency in Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar district where Maharashtra Cabinet minister Abdul Sattar – who is now part of the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena – is in the fray. (File photo)

IN A first of its kind since BJP-Shiv Sena alliance broke in 2019, Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray on Friday sprang a surpise as he urged BJP workers to join hands with his party to defeat Abdul Sattar, who is the Maharashtra Minister and Shiv Sena candidate in Sillod assembly constituency.

In the last two-and-a-half years, Thackeray has never spoken about BJP-Sena workers coming together in any city or constituency, said Sena sources.

”I want to make a special appeal and request to BJP workers here… It’s ok… We have some differences… If anyone from your side is ready to talk to me, I am ready for discussion.. But now, all of us should make effort to wash away the taint from Sillod..This is because our culture and tradition are different,” Thackeray said while addressing a rally in Sillod in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar for party candidate Suresh Bankar.

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Abdul Sattar, a Maharashtra Minister is contesting from Sillod. Sattar is from Shiv Sena led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde. He was earlier in the Congress. Sillod assembly seat is in Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar district.

Slamming Sattar, Thackeray said, “If ordinary people come together, no matter how big a person is, his fall is certain. That is why, from the bottom of my heart, I want to urge BJP workers to not miss this opportunity. In Sillod, do BJP workers want ‘goondaism’ and an atmosphere of terror? I don’t think so… I am sure the ‘sachcha (true) BJP workers will not approve of such ”goondaism’ and will make all effort to put an end to it. Let us all come together and end this ”goondaism,” he said, while calling for the defeat of Abdul Sattar

Drawing a comparison between his party’s Hindutva and the one practised by BJP, Uddhav said,”Today, I am moving around in Maharashtra with saffron flag in my hand. My Muslim sisters are sitting in front of me. Why are they not afraid of us ? Have we given up Hindutva ? No, still my Muslims sisters are coming to our rally and sitting in front of me without any fear…This is our Hindtuva.”

Thackeray alleged that at Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s rally in Mumbai, Muslim women were not allowed to enter the venue.

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“Why? Because, they said they were wearing black dresses… They were stopped at the gates… Do you have humane qualities in you, or not ?” he asked.

Referring to Sattar’s presence on stage at PM’s rally in Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar on Thursday, Thackeray said, “He (Sattar) had used abusive language against Supriya Sule in front of TV cameras. And at yesterday’s rally of PM in Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar, this man (Sattar) was present on the dais… I want to then ask Modi, is this your Hindtuva? Is this your culture? During Lok Sabha elections in Karnataka, the PM urged voters to strengthen the hands of Prajwal Revanna…Who is Prajwal Revanna ? Everyone knows…”

Criticising Abdul Sattar, Uddhav said, “All traitors have come together. And despite getting ministerial posts, their hunger is not satiated. They still remain greedy. They are all misuing power and harassing the poor. They should be put behind bards. This is what I want to tell the Sillodkars.”

The Sena chief said last time he made a mistake. ”I honestly acccept I made a mistake… And I apologise for that,” he said. Uddhav was referring to Sattar joining the Sena during the 2019 assembly elections. “That time, he told me that he will help me realise my dream. Forget about my dream, he has made life a nightmare for the poor and has gone on accumulating wealth,” he said.

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Reacting to Thackeray’s criticism, Sattar, speaking to ABP Majha, a Marathi news channel, said, “Thackeray has lost his mind. Let him say what he wants to… The people of Sillod will give him a befitting reply on November 23.”

Manoj More has been working with the Indian Express since 1992. For the first 16 years, he worked on the desk, edited stories, made pages, wrote special stories and handled The Indian Express edition. In 31 years of his career, he has regularly written stories on a range of topics, primarily on civic issues like state of roads, choked drains, garbage problems, inadequate transport facilities and the like. He has also written aggressively on local gondaism. He has primarily written civic stories from Pimpri-Chinchwad, Khadki, Maval and some parts of Pune. He has also covered stories from Kolhapur, Satara, Solapur, Sangli, Ahmednagar and Latur. He has had maximum impact stories from Pimpri-Chinchwad industrial city which he has covered extensively for the last three decades.   Manoj More has written over 20,000 stories. 10,000 of which are byline stories. Most of the stories pertain to civic issues and political ones. The biggest achievement of his career is getting a nearly two kilometre road done on Pune-Mumbai highway in Khadki in 2006. He wrote stories on the state of roads since 1997. In 10 years, nearly 200 two-wheeler riders had died in accidents due to the pathetic state of the road. The local cantonment board could not get the road redone as it lacked funds. The then PMC commissioner Pravin Pardeshi took the initiative, went out of his way and made the Khadki road by spending Rs 23 crore from JNNURM Funds. In the next 10 years after the road was made by the PMC, less than 10 citizens had died, effectively saving more than 100 lives. Manoj More's campaign against tree cutting on Pune-Mumbai highway in 1999 and Pune-Nashik highway in 2004 saved 2000 trees. During Covid, over 50 doctors were  asked to pay Rs 30 lakh each for getting a job with PCMC. The PCMC administration alerted Manoj More who did a story on the subject, asking then corporators how much money they demanded....The story worked as doctors got the job without paying a single paisa. Manoj More has also covered the "Latur drought" situation in 2015 when a "Latur water train" created quite a buzz in Maharashtra. He also covered the Malin tragedy where over 150 villagers had died.     Manoj More is on Facebook with 4.9k followers (Manoj More), on twitter manojmore91982 ... Read More


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