Solapur (Maharashtra) [India], July 5 (ANI): Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Saturday said that he must be receiving the blessings of Shiv Sena founder Bal Thackeray after the estranged Thackeray cousins, Uddhav and Raj, shared the public stage for the first time in nearly 20 years.
The remarks of the Maharashtra Chief Minister came in response to Raj Thackeray's veiled attack on the former, where the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief stated, "What Balasaheb could not do, Devendra Fadnavis did it".
"I express my gratitude to Raj Thackeray that he gave me the credit for the coming together of both the brothers; I must be getting the blessings of Balasaheb Thackeray. I was told that there would be a victory rally, but there was also a speech of 'rudaali'. Not a single word was spoken about Marathi... The Mumbai Municipal Corporation was under their control for 25 years. Still, they did not do any work that could be shown," Chief Minister said.
"We changed the face of Mumbai under the leadership of PM Modi. They are jealous of the work we did for Mumbai, but the public knows everything, and everyone is on our side," he added.
On the language row brewing up in the state, CM Fadnavis said that the ideology of Hindutva takes everyone.
"We are Marathi, we are proud of being Marathi, we are proud of the Marathi language, but at the same time, we are also Hindus; our Hindutva takes everyone along," he said.
Earlier, at a joint rally, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray launched a veiled attack on Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and said that the Chief Minister did what could not be possible for Balasaheb Thackeray, as he brought the two estranged brothers of the Thackeray family together.
"I had said in one of my interviews that my Maharashtra is bigger than any politics and fight. Today, after 20 years, Uddhav and I have come together. What Balasaheb could not do, Devendra Fadnavis did it... The work of bringing both of us together," he said.
Shiv Sena (UBT) Chief Uddhav Thackeray and MNS chief Raj Thackeray shared a hug at the Worli Dome in Mumbai as they held a joint rally after the Maharashtra government scrapped two Government Resolutions (GRs) to introduce Hindi as the third language.
Speaking on the occasion, Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Priyanka Chaturvedi on Saturday expressed happiness over the 'Awaaz Marathicha' joint rally held by Shiv Sena (UBT) and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) and stated that she "witnessed a historic" moment.
Priyanka Chaturvedi said that both Uddhav and Raj Thackeray have come together after 20 years, and this was evident from the excitement of the people.
"We have witnessed a historic moment. As Raj Thackeray said, what Balasaheb couldn't do, Devendra Fadnavis has done. This shows that they will stay united. Both of them have come together after 20 years. The excitement of people shows that they wanted both of them to come together", Priyanka Chaturvedi said.
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