'Jai Gujarat' row: Uddhav Thackeray lands 'Pushpa' punch at Eknath Shinde; calls him 'gaddar'

NEW DELHI: Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Uddhav Thackeray on Saturday targeted Maharashtra deputy chief minister Eknath Shinde for raising the "Jai Gujarat" slogan in a rally a day earlier.

Addressing a joint rally with Raj Thackeray in Mumbai, the Shiv Sena (UBT) chief said, "Gaddar (Eknath Shinde) said ‘Jai Gujarat’ just like the actor in the movie Pushpa says ‘Jhukega nahi s*la’; but this Gaddar follows ‘Uthega nahi s*la’."



Doubling down on his criticism of Shinde, Uddhav continued, "He (Shinde) doesn’t have his own thoughts. His boss came, so to please him he said ‘Jai Gujarat’. Is this how he shows respect for Marathi?"


Amid the language row in Maharashtra, Eknath Shinde on Friday triggered a new controversy as he raised "Jai Gujarat" slogan in a speech in the presence of Union home minister Amit Shah. While concluding his speech, Shinde raised the slogan ‘Jai Hind, Jai Maharashtra'. After a brief pause, he added ‘Jai Gujarat', drawing flak from opposition parties.

The Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) and Shiv Sena (UBT) held a joint rally in Mumbai to oppose the alleged imposition of the Hindi language over Maharashtra by the BJP-led state government.

In his remarks, Uddhav also alleged that the Centre has pushed Mumbai's important establishments to Gujarat, and these are all attempts to break the "backbone" of Maharashtra.

"They always ask us what we did for the Marathi people in Mumbai during our rule in BMC. They all forced Marathi people to go out of Mumbai, but now we are asking a question: in the last 11 years of your rule, what have you done? You have pushed away Mumbai's important establishments to Gujarat. Businesses are being transferred to Gujarat. Big offices are going to Gujarat. The diamond business has already shifted to Gujarat, so you have made all attempts to break the backbone of Maharashtra and continue to do that, and you are asking questions to us", Uddhav Thackeray said.

After 20 years, Uddhav Thackeray and Raj Thackeray came together on a public platform for a victory gathering titled 'Awaj Marathicha', held to mark the withdrawal of two government resolutions that had proposed introducing Hindi as a third language from Class 1 in Maharashtra schools.