BJP doesn't hold Hindutva patent, Bal Thackeray led saffron agenda: Uddhav Thackeray

Mumbai: Maharashtra Chief Minister and Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray on Sunday said the BJP doesn't hold "patent" on Hindutva and claimed that the late Sena chief Bal Thackeray had showed BJP that the combination of "saffron and Hindutva" will help in achieving power in Centre.

Uddhav Thackeray also said 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."

Joining virtually the campaign for Maha Vikas Aghadi's (MVA) candidate Jayashree Jadhav, who belongs to Congress, for the April 12 bypoll from the Kolhapur North seat, Mr Thackeray also blamed BJP for the defeat of the Shiv Sena nominee from the constituency in the 2019 polls despite the alliance between the two parties at that time.

He wondered if BJP had had a hidden alliance with Congress in this constituency in the 2019 polls. "The BJP doesn't have the patent for Hindutva. I wonder had Lord Ram not been born what issue the BJP would have raised in politics. Since BJP is bereft of issues it is talking about religion and (spreading) hatred," Mr Thackeray said.

Mr Thackeray said it was his father Bal Thackeray who had shown them (BJP) that saffron and Hindutva will lead them on the road to Delhi.

Speaking on the Kolhapur North bypoll, Mr Thackeray said that votes of Congress increased in the 2019 polls ((in Kolhapur North) compared to the 2014 elections which resulted in the defeat of Shiv Sena's nominee despite the alliance with the BJP.

"Where did the BJP's votes go in 2019? Did you (BJP) have a hidden alliance with Congress at that time?" Mr Thackeray asked.

Mr Thackeray also said that if the BJP claims to respect Bal Thackeray then why is that party opposing the proposal to name the upcoming Navi Mumbai international airport after the late Sena founder.

"Why has the BJP gone back on its word and commitment given by (Union Home Minister) Amit Shah in Balasaheb's room which I consider a temple," Mr Thackeray asked, in an apparent reference to his claim that BJP had promised the Chief Minister's post to Sena in the 2019 polls.

The issue of sharing the chief minister's post after the state elections in 2019 led to the break up between the Sena and the BJP.

The BJP and Amit Shah had rejected Mr Thackeray's claims regarding the purported promise on the Chief Minister's post.

Mr Thackeray, whose party heads the Maha Vikas Aghadi government which includes NCP and Congress, also said that the MVA alliance experiment is successful.