Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray on Saturday launched an all out attack on former ally Bharatiya Janata Party over the killing of Kashmiri Pandit government employee Rahul Bhat in Budgam district of Jammu and Kashmir.
Addressing a rally in Mumbai, the chief minister said,”Our ‘Hindutva’ is ‘Gadadhari’. Rahul Bhat was killed by terrorists at Tehsil’s office in J&K, now what will you (BJP) do? Will you read Hanuman Chalisa there”?Calling the BJP a fake ‘Hindutva party, Thackeray continued his attack on the saffron party. “No one is speaking about inflation. We wasted our 25 years due to an alliance with BJP, they are the worst. The fake ‘Hindutva’ party which was earlier with us has taken the country to hell”.
Thackeray’s outburst comes amid the controversy surrounding the chanting of Hanuman Chalisa in the state, which escalated following the arrest of lawmaker couple Navneet Rana and Ravi Rana. The Rana couple was released 12 days later. The BJP has minced no words in attacking its former ally, questioning its Hindutva credentials. BJP leader CT Ravi had in fact compared Thackeray to Mughal emperor Aurangzeb.
