‘Will ensure BJP gets buried in Maha’, Thackeray sharpens attack on Amit Shah

Pune (Maharashtra): Shiv Sena (UBT) President Uddhav Thackeray on Saturday likened Union Home Minister Amit Shah to a descendent of the 18th century Afghan Emperor Ahmad Shah Abdali, and sharpened his attack against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Addressing a party meeting here, Thackeray said the BJP calls him the ‘fake’ son of Balasaheb Thackeray, head of the ‘duplicate’ Shiv Sena (UBT), and chief of the ‘Aurangzeb fan club’.

“So what is Amit Shah? A ‘Vanshaj’ (descendant) of Afghan Emperor Ahmad Shah Abdali… I shall call him by this name henceforth. Don’t you feel ashamed when you call me names or my father or the party he founded,” Thackeray said.

The former Chief Minister was referring to Afghan conqueror Emperor Ahmad Shah Abdali (1720-1772), the founder of the Durrani Empire who invaded India eight times from 1748 to 1767.

Thackeray said Amit Shah keeps coming here like Ahmad Shah Abdali, but “we will ensure that the BJP gets buried here”.

Taking potshots, Thackeray said Shaista Khan (the uncle of Emperor Aurangzeb) was wise, for after losing his three fingers in the 1666 encounter with Shivaji Maharaj (later crowned Chhatrapati in 1874), he never returned to Maharashtra.

“Shaista Khan left and never came back… If some people take that wisdom, they won’t come back repeatedly to receive blows from the people of Maharashtra, as was seen in the (2024) Lok Sabha elections,” Thackeray said during the Shiv Sankalp Mela at the Ganesh Kala Krida hall here.

He even read excerpts from a letter written by former RSS chief Balasaheb Deoras to then PM Indira Gandhi who banned the organisation during the Emergency (1975-1977), explaining its philosophy in detail.

Thackeray claimed as per Deoras’ letter, the RSS is a purely cultural organisation that never preached enmity with minority religions, nor encouraged ill-will or targetting any such community or their holy scriptures.

“Is this the reason the BJP doesn’t like RSS anymore,” he asked.

Taking a dig at the BJP over its Hindutva stand, Thackeray said, “We follow the all-inclusive Hindutva of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj.”

“Look at all the parties the BJP has associated with — be it Mehbooba Mufti, Nitish Kumar, or Chandrababu Naidu — do they lead Hindutva parties,” he asked.

He also cited how the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government was toppled in June 2022, how the party was split, its name and symbol stolen, and how the Supreme Court will now decide the matter.

“Let the SC judgement come… If it comes now, what will be the impact? We will impose our faith in the people’s court and they will give us justice in the (October) Assembly elections,” said Thackeray.

BJP leaders, including state President Chandrashekhar Bawankule, Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis, and others slammed Thackeray’s remarks saying “they arise from his frustration and disappointment over losing power”.