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Shiv Sena reminds Modi: you promised ‘acche din’

Taking a dig at the Narendra Modi government at the Centre, Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray sought to remind the prime minister that he had promised 'acche din' and that he cannot take people for a ride.

Uddhav Thackeray, Shiv Sena, BJP, Acche din, Modi Acche din, BJP Acche din campaign, BJP-Shiv Sena ally, Sena editorial, Saamana editorial, Maharashtra news, mumbai news, india news, local news, Indian Express
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Taking a dig at the Narendra Modi government at the Centre, Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray on Thursday sought to remind the prime minister that he had promised ‘acche din’ and that he cannot take people for a ride.

“Even 50 years would fall short for removing the dirt of past 50 years. But a lot can be done in five years. Make efforts to protect the sentiments of the people. They should not be let down. You had promised acche din…now cannot take people for a ride,” said Thackeray said.

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In a three-part interview in Shiv Sena mouthpiece Saamna, – the first appeared today – Uddhav indirectly praises Modi and makes no bones of the fact that Sena has been getting a raw deal from the BJP when it came to sharing power whether at the Centre or at the state.

Pointing out that the nation and people have hopes from Modi, Uddhav said, “If there is anbody who can do something it is Narendra Modi. That is the belief among the people even today. But that change should happen soon.” He adding, “Fortunately, the one who we can call as a strong leader is at the helm at the Centre.”

Uddhav also sought to know from Modi as to where Sena stands in the NDA’s scheme of things. “If we are together in power, then what is our exact relationship. Who are we? Hum Aapke Hain Kaun. One NDA meeting has been held which is a good beginning… let’s see what happens in future,” Uddhav said.

Uddhav said the Shiv Sena-BJP alliance forged by Balasaheb Thackeray 25 years ago had remained unaffected till today. “It was the only of its kind allaince probably in the world that has lasted 25 years. But this alliance was broken. After that efforts to strengthen the alliance should have been made from both sides. Only remaining together won’t do,” he said.

To a question that despite having 18 MPs, Sena was not getting its due at the national level, Uddhav said, “Yes, I do lament that Sena is not part of the power sharing whether it is in the ministry or central bodies.” When pressed whether the Sena wants a share in the power, Uddhav said,”Yes, we won’t mind. But we are not adamant on that.”

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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