Mumbai: Amid the monsoon session in the Maharashtra Assembly, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray slammed the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) during a media interaction when asked about alleged forceful conversions of Hindus.
"The sad thing is that for the last eleven years, there has been a BJP government at both the Centre and in Maharashtra. And if Hindus are in danger in such a situation, what is the point of having a BJP government?" Thackeray was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.
He further stated: "Yesterday, Mangal Prabhat Lodha sahab tweeted that he wants to cut 9,000 trees at Kurla ITI because the number of Rohingyas and Bangladeshis is increasing there. Has he gone there and verified that they are indeed Rohingyas and Bangladeshis? If so, when did they arrive? Who is responsible for border security? It is your own central government."
Thackeray went on to corner the government further, saying: "Either you are accusing the country's Defence Minister or Home Minister. I will also be writing to the Chief Minister regarding the allegations made by Lodha. Does he want to suggest that his own government has failed? If so, then just as Trump deported illegal immigrants, why doesn’t Fadnavis do the same here?"
Thackeray Vs Lodha
Earlier on Monday, Thackeray had accused the state government of planning to cut down nearly 9,000 trees at the Kurla ITI campus in Mumbai.
Responding to which, state minister Mangal Prabhat Lodha denied these claims, alleging that Thackeray was protecting encroachments by Bangladeshi Rohingyas.
The minister countered Thackeray's allegations by stating that no trees were being cut for construction. He clarified that the site was already developed for local games and not for a swimming pool. "The road being built is just an eight-foot-wide pedestrian access," he said. Lodha alleged that the other side of the Kurla ground had been encroached upon by Bangladeshi Rohingyas.
