Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray Slams BJP, Says They Don't Hold Patent On Hindutva

Speaking at a rally, CM Uddhav Thackeray said Hindutva is not "patent" to BJP, and it was late Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray who showed them the power of "saffron and Hindutva".

Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray (Getty Image)

New Delhi: Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray Sunday slammed the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for playing politics in the name of Ram. While speaking at a rally in Kolhapur, the  Shiv Sena Chief said that the BJP would have had no political issue to raise had Lord Ram not been born, reported news agency ANI.

He also accused the BJP of spreading communal hatred for political gains.

"Today is Ram Navami. I wonder if Lord Ram would not have been born then, what issue the BJP would have raised in politics as they have no issue left. So, they keep communal issues at the forefront in politics," said the CM.

Speaking further at the rally, CM Uddhav Thackeray said Hindutva is not "patent" to BJP, and it was late Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray who showed them the power of "saffron and Hindutva" in forming government at the Centre.

"BJP leaders say that Shiv Sena has left Hindutva. It's not true, we have left BJP. BJP doesn't hold the patent on Hindutva and only BJP doesn't mean Hindutva either. BJP tried to create fake Hindu Hirdya Samrat but people have not supported them," said Uddhav Thackeray.

He also said that Shiv Sena has always stuck to the Hindu ideology unlike BJP that has propagated different ideologies since it was born as Bharatiya Jan Sangh.

 "Sena has always been committed to the "bhagva" (saffron) and Hindutva "unlike BJP which had different names like Bharatiya Jan Sangh and Jan Sangh which propagated different ideologies," said Thackeray, as reported by PTI.

BJP tried to create fake Hindu Hirdya Samrat but people have not supported them. The late Shiv Sena supremo Balasaheb Thackeray is the only "Hindu Hridya Samrat", the CM added further.