Ahead of Raj Thackeray’s rally, Sena says it can give tit-for-tat response to aggression

PTI, Apr 30, 2022, 9:01 AM IST

Mumbai: Ahead of Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray’s rally in Aurangabad, the Shiv Sena on Friday said it can give a befitting reply to any kind of aggression.

Maharashtra chief minister and Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray held a meeting with party spokespersons here, two days before his estranged cousin Raj’s scheduled rally.

Speaking to reporters later, Sena MP Sanjay Raut claimed that the BJP uses AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi to split Muslim votes, and now some ”Hindu Owaisis” have been created to attack ”Shiv Sena’s Hindutva”.

”The Sena always has the capacity to give a tit-for-tat kind of response to any aggression. He (Uddhav Thackeray) made it very clear to us in today’s meeting,” said party spokesperson Sachin Ahir.

”Some people are trying to change the narrative. We as spokespersons of the party should be ready for such tricks. We also need to talk about the work done by the Sena, the CM told us,” he added.

Another Sena leader said that Uddhav Thackeray also asked party workers to expose the BJP’s ”hollow Hindutva” and counter its narrative with the Sena’s performance.

The Sena chief also wondered `where was Raj Thackeray’ when the Babri mosque in Ayodhya was demolished, he said.

The MNS chief earlier this month tried to corner the Sena-NCP-Congress government in Maharashtra by demanding that loudspeakers on mosques be removed, and threatened to play the Hanuman Chalisa in front of mosques at louder volume if the demand was not met. Sanjay Raut, who was also present at the meeting on Friday, later lashed out at Raj Thackeray without naming him. ”When Babri mosque was demolished, where were these people? Shiv Sena workers shed their blood on the streets but people like him did not even shed sweat. He has done nothing at all,” Raut said.

”The BJP uses (AIMIM chief) Asaduddin Owaisi to eat into Muslim votes during elections, similarly some Hindu Owaisis have been created to attack the Hindutva of the Shiv Sena. It will boomerang on the BJP one day,” he added.

”Sena workers shed their blood and lost their lives in the 1992 communal riots in Mumbai. Where were these people (the BJP) at that time? They were hiding in their dens,” Raut said.