Ever since the Shiv Sena ended its 25-year-old alliance with the BJP in Maharashtra, the Sena has become openly critical of the BJP and put its entire strength into campaigning for the ongoing municipal polls in Mumbai. “People in Mumbai are happy about the split. They cannot tolerate the way the BJP tried to bully Shiv Sena,” said Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray in an interview with THE WEEK. He has vowed never to forge an alliance with the BJP again and plans to focus on state-level politics.
“...after 25 years, we have realised that the BJP has nothing to do with ideology. It was all fake. They just wanted to eat into our base and constituencies. That's why I have broken this alliance forever now,” he said. Thackeray, who is confident that people of Mumbai will bring them to power, said that Shiv Sena will win Mumbai even if Prime Minister Narendra Modi personally comes down to campaign.
Thackeray and his party plan to stand by the 'Marathi manoos'. “We have a provision in our manifesto. We will give preference to the students of BMC schools while giving employment in the BMC. We will strictly abide by the law of employing 80 per cent from the sons of soil,” he said. Along with wooing Marathis, the party also has set its sights on Gujarati BJP voters. “We have been feeling that all these Gujarati voters are extremely disappointed with demonetisation and other policies. They, too, have been facing this question of having a right political choice. Why not Shiv Sena?”
The full version of the interview with Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray will appear in the upcoming issue, dated February 26, 2017.
