Uddhav and Raj Thackeray vow to stay united, say 'credit goes to CM Fadnavis'

Shiv Sena UBT chief Uddhav Thackeray on Saturday said that he and MNS chief Raj Thackeray have come together on the issue of Marathi, Mumbai and Maharashtra and they will continue to be together in the future also.

 

Uddhav was speaking at the victory rally organised in the aftermath of the Maharashtra government scrapping two GRs that made the Hindi language compulsory from the first standard onwards in schools across the state. Uddhav Thackeray’s statement is being seen as a precursor to a political alliance between Senas run by him and his cousin.

 

This is the first time in 19 years, after  Raj Thackeray quit Shiv Sena in 2005, that the Thackeray cousins have come together on a platform to share the stage on a socio-political issue.

 

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Speaking on the occasion, Raj Thackeray said that there was no need to rake up this issue in the first place as nobody has objection to teaching Hindi in schools from fifth onwards as is being done so far. "The credit for bringing us together goes to Devendra Fadnavis. What none of our well-wishers could achieve for so many years, was done by Fadnavis (through his government GRs on Hindi)."

 

Raj also alleged that the introduction of Hindi was just a test case as the real intention of rulers in Delhi was to separate Mumbai from Maharashtra.

 

Both Thackeray cousins appealed to the audience and the Marathi community to keep this unity intact.

 

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Uddhav also lashed out at the Fadnavis government and central government for giving away large swathes of land to the Adani group under the pretext of Dharavi redevelopment.

 

The victory rally was attended by Supriya Sule and Jitendra Avhad from the NCP Sharad Pawar faction, Prakash Reddy and Ajit Navle from the left front, Jayant Patil from Peasants and Workers Party, and former RS MP Dr Bhalchandra Mungekar from the Congress.

India