‘Urban Naxals’: Shiv Sena Chief Uddhav Thackeray Calls Maharashtra Police Claim ‘Stupid’, Rubbishes Threat From Maoists

The Shiv Sena has rubbished the Maharashtra police claim that Maoists are working overtime to dislodge the Narendra Modi regime. Calling the claim ‘stupid’, Sena said that the police view was at best a ‘conspiracy theory’, a report in Times of India says.

Party chief Uddhav Thackeray said that Prime Minister Modi’s security was ‘robust’ and that there was ‘no need’ for worry. The Sena view, which was published in its mouthpiece Saamna, said that in recent history, it was not the Maoists, but the common man who had the power to bring down governments.

Citing the case of the previous Manmohan Singh government, he said as the people were fed up of poor governance, they brought down the dispensation. Governments in recent times can be brought down only by the democratic process, he felt. He also said that had these Maoists really had the power to topple governments, they would not have lost the elections in Bengal, Tripura and Manipur.

He cautioned the police against making such ‘ridiculous’ claims as they would only serve to portray the Modi government in poor light. Comparing the security apparatus of former Prime Ministers Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi, and incumbent Modi, he said the mother-son duo was adventurous with their security, and that cost them dear. Modi was not such a person, he felt, and asserted that his security was not porous.

Thackeray also criticised those against the arrests of the five Left-wing activists saying that such people were running parallel governments in remote areas of Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, and that there was nothing holy about their lives.

“Such people were responsible for the violence in Bhima Koregaon. They do not want democracy. Instead, they want chaos. They deceitfully call themselves Maoists. But the truth is that if they had carried out such activities during Mao’s reign in China, they would have been behind bars without delay. But in India, they get support. It’s nothing but hypocrisy. Those responsible for their growth and sustenance are leaders such as Rahul Gandhi, Sharad Pawar and Prakash Ambedkar,” Thackeray said.