‘Either you will remain or I will’: Uddhav Thackeray declares war on Devendra Fadnavis

Mumbai: Former Maharashtra home minister Anil Deshmukh’s recent allegations that Devendra Fadnavis had conspired against Uddhav Thackeray, Ajit Pawar and their sons during the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) regime continued to heat up the political temperature ahead of the assembly polls, with the Shiv Sena (UBT) chief launching a scathing attack on the deputy chief minister on Wednesday, saying that “either you will remain or I will.”

Thackeray also challenged the BJP, saying that the MVA had cut down Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s arrogance in the Lok Sabha elections. “Now, we will complete the unfinished job in the assembly elections,” he said.

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Addressing party workers and office bearers at Mumbai’s Rangasharda auditorium, Thackeray referred to Deshmukh’s allegations and declared a political war against Fadnavis. “He conspired against me and my son to send us to jail by levelling fake charges. Anil Deshmukh told me about this. He attacked my family. For all these days, I suffered a lot but still stood with courage. Now, either he will remain or I will,” Thackeray said. He also ordered party workers to be aggressive in the coming days and hit back if anyone attacked the party.

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The former chief minister invoked his party’s connection with Mumbai, saying that chief minister Eknath Shinde, deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar and deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis have no love for the city and are allowing it to be looted. “Once they lose power, they will go to Thane, Baramati and Nagpur. We need to fight for Mumbai,” he said. In a veiled attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and union home minister Amit Shah, he added, “Those two traders in the Centre want to loot Mumbai. We will not tolerate it. We need to uproot them from here.”

Trying to boost the morale of party workers, Thackeray said that the upcoming assembly elections would be the last challenge before the party as there would be no one left to trouble them after winning.

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Responding to Thackeray, several BJP leaders slammed him for using provocative language and said that the party has accepted his challenge. “Use of such provocative language doesn’t suit Thackeray. He is daring the BJP and its leader on the back of getting Muslim and Christian votes,” said state BJP president Chandrashekhar Bawankule.

In a post on X, Bawankule also claimed that Thackeray, when he was chief minister, had tried to put Fadnavis in jail but did not succeed.

“Uddhav Thackeray will have to take a hundred births to end [Fadnavis’] political career,” he wrote.

Mumbai BJP president Ashish Shelar accused Thackeray of speaking the language of anti-nationals. “Thackeray talks about finishing pro-Hindutva BJP in politics. He is speaking the language of organisations like SIMI (Students’ Islamic Movement of India). BJP has accepted Thackeray’s challenge and, now, he should not turn back.”