Central agencies did not come calling when Bal Thackeray criticised Rajiv: Uddhav at Cong event

Mumbai, Aug 20 (PTI) Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray on Tuesday said that in the past the undivided Shiv Sena and Congress were bitter rivals, but they never acted with "vindictiveness" towards each other.

Speaking at a `Sadbhavana Diwas' event here to mark the birth anniversary of late Rajiv Gandhi, he also noted that central agencies never harassed Shiv Sena leaders even though party founder Bal Thackeray criticised the then prime minister in his speeches.

Uddhav Thackeray, who joined hands with the Congress in 2019 after parting ways with the Bharatiya Janata Party, took part in a Congress event for the first time. The program was also attended by NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar and Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge.

Paying homage to Rajiv Gandhi, Thackeray said despite having a brute majority of more than 400 seats in 1984, he brought in legislations to strengthen the Panchayati Raj and decentralize power.

"Shiv Sena and Congress were bitter opponents, but they never acted with vindictiveness towards each other," Thackeray said.

"Sena chief Bal Thackeray harshly criticised Rajiv Gandhi (when Gandhi was PM) but at no point I recall CBI, ED or Income Tax knocking on the doors of Shiv Sena leaders," he further said, taking a veiled swipe at the BJP-led Union government.

Opposition often accuses the Narendra Modi government of misusing central investigation agencies against its political opponents.

Thackeray also said that Rajiv Gandhi never shied away from tackling challenges and took on them boldly, referring to the steps the former prime minister took to deal with the militancy in Punjab and northeast India.

"But (now the attitude is) let Manipur and Kashmir burn," he said, in another swipe at the NDA government.

Thackeray also accused the BJP of resorting to "power-jihad".

The Opposition managed to reduce the BJP-led alliance's strength in the Lok Sabha in the general elections, but the ruling coalition has to be defeated decisively in the coming assembly elections in Maharashtra, he said.

The BJP accused him of abandoning Hindutva for the sake of aligning with the Congress, but the saffron party did not mind joining hands with JD(U) chief Nitish Kumar and Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu (who have different ideologies), Thackeray said. PTI PR KRK