New Delhi: With "Mogambo khush hua," one of the most well-known lines from the movie "Mr. India," Shiv Sena faction chief Uddhav Thackeray attacked the BJP and its chief strategist Amit Shah on Sunday after being stripped of the party's name and election symbol by the Election Commission. Thackeray also targeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi, stating, "Those talking of Hindutva now, where were they? Address not known. Now they brag about 56-inch chest. Where was that 56-inch chest then? He was sweating".
"Modi masks at rallies, now it is PM Modi, who is after the mask of Balasaheb Thackeray," he added, referring to the months-long battle for his father's legacy with the BJP and Chief Minister Eknath Shinde.
Thackeray intends to challenge that decision in the Supreme Court. The Election Commission settled that dispute on Friday in Shinde's favour.
"Yesterday, someone (Amit Shah) came to Pune. He asked how things are going in Maharashtra. Then someone said it was a very good day, because the name and symbol of Shiv Sena was given to the slaves who came with us. So he (Mr Shah) said very well, 'Mogambo khush hua'," said at a public meeting in Mumbai's Andheri.
"These are the Mogambos of today. Like the original Mogambo, they want people to fight among each other, so they can enjoy power," Thackeray added.
However, the 62-year-old former Chief Minister of Maharashtra praised the move of the poll body because it had "enraged the people."
He said, "They turned me out of my own house and the verdict went in the favour of thieves," pointing out that this could happen to any other party if they were allowed to get away with it.
Amit Shah's claim that he had relinquished power "at the feet of (Nationalist Party Congress chief) Sharad Pawar" in order to become the Chief Minister also received a sharp response from Thackeray.
"In 2019, Uddhav Thackeray campaigned with us but when poll results came, he forgot about all the ideologies and fell on Sharad Pawar's feet and requested to make him CM. BJP doesn't have greed for power and we will never forget our ideologies," said Shah, who is currently in Maharashtra ahead of the Mumbai civic polls.
"Mogambo said I was licking the feet of the Congress and the NCP for the CM post. Now after what they have done, who knows who is licking what… How about when you were sitting with Mufti Mohammad Sayeed (the former chief of Jammu and Kashmir's People's Democratic Party)," Thackeray asked, referring to the unexpected alliance that the two parties with opposing ideologies formed in 2015 to govern the former state.
"You want my father's face but not his son. The son that was with you. I challenge them to come in front of me with the stolen bow and arrow. I have the mashaal (torch) and we will see what happens… They may have stolen the bow and arrow, but Ram is with me," Thackeray said.
The Supreme Court has challenged the battle between the two Sena factions and the various moves involved. The case will be heard on Tuesday.