Devendra Fadnavis takes 'thank you' dig at Raj Thackeray after crediting him for reunion with Uddhav: 'Balasaheb must have blessed me'

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Saturday took a subtle dig at Raj Thackeray after the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) supremo credited the BJP leader for helping him reunite with his cousin Uddhav Thackeray.

Fadnavis said late Balasaheb Thackeray, Shiv Sena founder and Uddhav's father, must have blessed him for reuniting the estranged cousins.

Slamming Uddhav, the chief minister claimed he did not speak a word about Marathi during the victory rally celebrating the language and instead chose to speak about how he was ousted from power. "He is speaking out of frustration, as they have nothing to show despite ruling the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation for over 25 years," the CM said.

During the victory rally, Raj said there was no need for the Fadnavis government to scrap two GRs that made the Hindi language compulsory from the first standard onwards in schools across the state. He added that nobody has objection to teaching Hindi in schools from fifth onwards as is being done so far.

Taking a jab at the CM's move, the MNS chief said, "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)." He added that the three-language formula imposed in the state was a precursor to the BJP government's plan to separate Mumbai from Maharashtra.

India