On the foundation day of Maharashtra on the 1st of May 2022, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS)chief Raj Thackeray tore into NCP chief Sharad Pawar while addressing a public meeting at Aurangabad in Maharashtra. During his public meeting, he slammed NCP president Sharad Pawar for introducing venomous caste politics in Maharashtra.
Addressing the meeting, Raj Thackeray said, “What kind of politics is going on here? Maharashtra gave certain thoughts to the nation. We gave socialism, we helped Buddhism to spread, communists were also here and Hindutva too. And now political leaders use abusive language. Are we going to put this ideal before our kids? Sharad Pawar’s Nationalist Congress Party stirred poison in people’s minds for the sake of his electoral benefits. This venom is injected into the kids going to school and college.”
Attacking Sharad Pawar over his religious photo-ops, the MNS chief said, “Sharad Pawar is an atheist. His photos while praying to gods and doing puja rituals were made viral after my speech. Don’t do drama, don’t act. Your own daughter said in parliament that her father is an atheist. Do I need to give any separate proof?”
Furthermore, Raj Thackeray said, “Sharad Pawar asked me to read books by my grandfather Prabodhankar Keshav Seetaram Thackeray. I have read them thoroughly, but all Sharad Pawar does is cherry-pick. Sharad Pawar quotes my grandfather only when his quotes suit the caste politics of Sharad Pawar. My grandfather was a Hindu. He was not against Dharma but he was for social reforms needed in those days of Dharma. His writings were in the context of those times.”
Continuing his attack on Sharad Pawar and his party, Thackeray said, “These NCP people divided Maharashtra along caste lines over a book written by James Lane about Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. They (NCP people) say that the British writer wrote false and derogatory things about respected Shivaji Maharaj and it was Shiv Shahir Babasaheb Purandare, a Brahmin, who gave such information to that writer. Sharad Pawar was in power for so many years, he was a union minister, why didn’t he drag that writer to India? Why didn’t he ask him? Here is India Today’s interview of that writer James Lane. In this interview, he clearly said that Babasaheb Puranadare did not provide him with any information and he never talked to him. He said he has written stories that he knew from various other sources, he did not write history.”
Raj Thackeray further asked Sharad Pawar, “Why did you set Brahmins and Marathas in the state on the path of a fight? Was Ramdas Swami Shivaji Maharaj’s guru or was it Saint Tukaram is not an issue, all of them were great. But are we going to see them with a caste lens? Will Ramdas Swami be seen as a Brahmin? Will Lokmanya Tilak who built Shivaji Maharaj’s Samadhi be seen as a Brahmin while the name of his first newspaper was Maratha? This caste politics will not be tolerated in Maharashtra anymore.”
Raj Thackeray also said that the recent public meetings of NCP have been noticed by the people. “People of Maharashtra know what that Amol Mitkari has said about our Dharma. Even NCP president Sharad Pawar used to mention that this is Maharashtra of Shahu-Phule-Ambedkar. Yes, I too say that it is their Maharashtra, but before them, it is of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. It seems that Sharad Pawar has an allergy to the word Hindu. It is only after my criticism that the NCP people are putting an idol of Shivaji Maharaj on their stage. Before that, they didn’t even put a picture of him on stage. They just take his name to mislead our Maratha brothers and sisters.”
Raj Thackeray has been on a warpath with the ruling Maha Vikas Agadi alliance, of which Sharad Pawar’s NCP is the major partner, in recent days over the issue of loudspeakers in mosques, and the deadline he gave to the government expires on the upcoming Eid.
