'Still With Hindutva, Won't Deviate,' Says Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray

Addressing the state assembly, Thackeray said, “I am still with the ideology of 'Hindutva' and won't ever abandon it.”

Mumbai: Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray arrives at Vidhan Bhavan for the Assembly session in Mumbai, Sunday, Dec. 1, 2019. (PTI Photo/Mitesh Bhuvad)

New Delhi: Newly sworn-in Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray said that he is still with Hindutva, on Sunday, despite the ruling alliance of Shiv Sena, NCP and Congress mentioning  the word "secular" in the preamble of its Common Minimum Programme (CMP). Addressing the state assembly, Thackeray said, “I am still with the ideology of 'Hindutva' and won't ever abandon it.” Thackeray, who heads the Sena, told the Legislative Assembly that ideology of Hindutva cannot be separated from him. Thackeray also took a swipe at former chief minister and BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis on Hindutva. "To keep a promise is also part of my Hindutva. I have been following my Hindutva yesterday, today and will continue to do so in future as well," Thackeray said. At his press conference earlier this week, former chief minister Devendra Fadnavis had said that Shiv Sena compromised with its core ideology -- Hindutva - by joining hands with Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP). "The Shiv Sena's Hindutva now rests at the feet of (Congress president) Sonia Gandhi. Everyone is seeing this," Fadnavis had said. Speaking after BJP's Devendra Fadnavis' election as the Leader of Opposition, Uddhav said he learnt lot of things from the former chief minister. "I have learnt a lot of things from Devendra Fadvanis and I will always be friends with him. In the past five years, I have never betrayed the government." Uddhav took a jibe at Fadnavis over the collapse of BJP-Shiv Sena alliance after the former refused to accept Sena's demand for equal power-sharing in the new government. Also watch: 'Party won't deviate from Hindutva,' says Maha CM Uddhav Thackeray