Mumbai: With the campaigning for Maharashtra Assembly polls set to conclude on Monday, Shiv Sena on Sunday stepped up its attack on erstwhile ally BJP for breaking their 25-year-old partnership even as it charged Prime Minister Narendra Modi with "inaction" on the issue of the ceasefire violations by Pakistan.
Playing the son-of-the-soil card, Uddhav told the rally tonight in Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC) in suburban Mumbai that Sena would have been finished had he accepted BJP's demands regarding seat sharing for the Oct. 15 polls.
"If I had accepted BJP's demands, (our) alliance would have survived, but Sena would have been finished. I am fighting this battle with your support and strength, BJP will never come to power in the state," Uddhav said.
Recalling former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's poem, 'Kadam milakar chalna hoga", on overcoming hurdles together, Uddhav said had Balasaheb Thackeray been alive with Vajpayee at the helm, the 25-year-old alliance would not have collapsed. Referring to Modi's rabble-rousing campaign ahead of Lok Sabha elections on dealing with Pakistan, Uddhav said, "Before Lok Sabha polls, we were promised tit-for-tat action if Pakistan killed our soldiers.
What is happening now? Why is there a silence now?" Ridiculing Modi's claim that he would develop Maharashtra like Gujarat if BJP was voted to power in the state, Uddhav said, "Why do you need the same party's government at the state and the Centre. When you were chief minister of Gujarat, was not Manmohan Singh the prime minister... Didn't you work for the development of Gujarat.
"It is not necessary which party is in power. What is important is who is the chief minister," he said. Uddhav said he would never allow BJP to remove Mumbai from Maharashtra or create a separate state of Vidarbha. "If you have the guts, liberate occupied Kashmir from Pakistan and also take back our land from China," he said.
Taking a dig at BJP over its claims of a massive response to Modi's rallies, Uddhav said that people from Gujarat were being brought in to fill the venues of the PM's public meetings. "You have seen Sena's love and warmth, now you see its anger," he said in a warning to BJP. Uddhav said his party will take back Marathi-speaking areas from Karnataka if voted to power.
Uddhav also rejected the surveys which are reportedly projecting that BJP would emerge as the single-largest party after the elections. "I have faith in Shiv Sainiks who will ensure that Sena forms the next government. No survey in Lok Sabha polls had predicted that Sena will get 18 seats," he said.
Indicating that he will not shy away from the chief ministership if the party won power, Uddhav said, "The chief minister of Maharashtra will not bow before Delhi."
"2016 will be the golden jubilee year of Shiv Sena and Maharashtra's chief minister will celebrate that occasion... By 2016, I would have implemented about 50 welfare schemes envisaged in the vision document of Shiv Sena," Uddhav said. Uddhav, meanwhile, also criticised former chief minister Prithviraj Chavan for "neglecting the health, education and infrastructure sectors in the state".
Referring to NCP stalwart and former state home minister RR Patil's controversial comments on rape and elections, Uddhav asked, "Will you vote for such uncultured people?" The Sena chief also claimed that the rail fares which were hiked soon after the Modi government took charge at the Centre were rolled back because of Sena's strong opposition to the move.
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