Breaking his silence on his party's strained ties with the BJP, Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray on Thursday attacked the coalition partner on issues like Pakistan, beef, the Ram temple and inflation.He, however, said the Sena will not be walking out of the Maharashtra government any time soon.
He also said the Dadri lynching incident brought shame to the country and not Sena's campaign against cultural or sporting ties with Pakistan.
"If you can get along with (J&Kashmir CM) Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, then you should also listen to Shiv Sena," Uddhav said, addressing the Sena's traditional Dussehra rally at Shivaji Park in Dadar.
Referring to speculation on the Sena parting ways with BJP, which has criticised it over the Pakistan Cricket Board chief Shahryar Khan and Sudheendra Kulkarni incidents, he said, "We know for how long to remain in power. Allow us to work, now that we are in power."
Ridiculing BJP on the Ayodhya issue, he said, "We have been hearing "mandir wahin banayenge... lekin tareekh nahi batayenge (temple will be built, but not when). If Hindus are go ing to be finished, will this country survive?" He added, "Declare this country as Hindu rashtra and implement the common civil code instead of searching people's homes for beef."
The country's image has been maligned by the Dadri lynching incident and not because of the ink attack on Kulkarni, he said, referring to Sena's protest against the launch of the book by former Pakistan foreign minister Khurshid Mahmud Kasuri in Mumbai.
"Why speak on cow (beef), instead speak on inflation. Why is it not possible to control prices of essential commodities? A government that can't stop price rise is useless," Uddhav said.
