"Don't Ask For Votes In My Father's Name": 11 Things That Uddhav Thackeray Said In Interview With Sanjay Raut

Former Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray gave an interview to Shiv Sena mouthpiece, Saamana's executive editor and party MP Sanjay Raut.

Here are the key highlights from their conversation:

1. What's Thackeray worried about: Raut asked that despite the fall of Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government, why wasn't Thackeray looking tensed?

Thackeray replied that he inherited the qualities of being calm and restrained. However, he was worried about Marathi manoos and Hindutva because their unity had been harmed by the recent split in the party.

2. 'Varsha' v/s 'Matoshree': Raut asked whether Thackeray was feeling more relaxed after shifting back to 'Matoshree' from 'Varsha'. 'Matoshree' is the personal residence of the Thackeray family, while 'Varsha' is the official residence of the Maharashtra CM.

He replied that 'Matoshree' definitely comforts him more being his house. He also said that while being CM, when he was operated on, he asked doctors to drop him at 'Matoshree' after the procedure. However, he admitted that staying at 'Varsha' was an honour.

3. 'Betrayal during operation': He said that due to the dual operations that he had to undergo during his CM-ship, he was out of touch with the happenings in the party. "When I was inactive, they (rebels) got active," he said.

He says that he gave them (Eknath Shinde) the power when he was unable to perform his duties but they betrayed him. He also alleges that they spent crores of rupees on planes and hotels when they went away.

4. BJP's "dhong" (gimmick): Thackeray reiterated that BJP should have agreed to share the CM tenure with Shiv Sena after the polls, and that would have saved both the parties from drama.

He said that now the BJP was trying to portray itself as 'large-hearted' by making a CM from the Shiv Sena but "that Shiv Sena is not the real Shiv Sena." "They (BJP) are using Hindutva to gain power while Shiv Sena aims to bring Hindutva into power," he further said.

5. 'MVA not against Hindutva': When asked about the prevalent perception that Thackeray betrayed Hindutva by joining MVA, he rhetorically asked, "Tell me one decision of my CM-ship that was against Hindutva."

"I have been to Ayodhya while being the CM, visited Ram Lala and Tirupati. We started renovating ancient temples," he said.

Thackeray then went to ask that how was it possible that BJP did not leave Hindutva when they were in alliance with Mehbooba Mufti's PDP, but Shiv Sena is blamed for doing so just for forging an alliance with Congress.

6. Shiv Sena in Thane: Raut asked that while Thane was the place where Shiv Sena grew in its early years, now it was Thane itself that had landed a blow on the party (alluding to CM Eknath Shinde who is an MLA from Thane).

Without taking Shinde's name, Thackeray said, "He is not the real Thanekar, a Thanekar is a common resident of Thane." "Let the people decide," he said.

7. Shiv Sena being hijacked? When Raut asked this, Thackeray replied that they (rebels) were trying to create a delusion that they are the real Shiv Sena but there is no Shiv Sena without the Thackerays.

"MVA had a protocol, a coordination but their Deputy CM (Devendra Fadnavis) is calling them 'Shiv Sena' to instigate a Shiv Sena versus Shiv Sena fight," he further said.

8. Targets rebels: Thackeray claimed that the rebels had double standards as they "want Balasaheb Thackeray on their side but separate themselves from the Thackerays."

"Don't ask for votes in my father's name. I respect everybody's parents. Ask votes in your parents' name... You are not a real man, you betrayed me and now trying to betray people by using Balasaheb," he further said.

"Such is his (Shinde's) lust for power that now he is comparing himself to Shiv Sena supremo late Bal Thackeray. He is trying to take everything under his control," he further said.

9. Where did Thackeray err? "As I accepted in Facebook Live earlier that it's my fault that I believed them (rebels) to be my family members and was betrayed," Thackeray said.

When asked whether the MVA experiment failed, he said that if that would have happened, then the voices would emerge from the public but they didn't. "We waived farmers' loan, managed Covid well," he claimed.

10. On rebels' complaints: Rebels complained that they were not given time by Thackeray, on which he said that he had a lot to do and faced a time shortage, especially while managing Covid crisis.

He targeted the newly formed government saying that their cabinet is like "hum tum ek kamre me band ho" (a Hindi song) as there is no cabinet expansion till now.

11. On those who left: Raut asked whether Thackeray felt that he was betrayed by the ones he supported the most? He replied saying that this is Shiv Sena's power, "to bestow extraordinary things to the ordinary people."

He calls on Shiv Sena workers to become extraordinary from being ordinary. "It was my virtue that I gave power to them but their fault that they betrayed the one who gave them birth (politically)," he further said.