Sat Next To Mehbooba Mufti On Purpose: Uddhav Thackeray Hits Back

Under attack from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for sitting next to People's Democratic Party (PDP) president Mehbooba Mufti at the Opposition meeting in Patna, Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray on Saturday said he did so on purpose.

Speaking before a gathering of party workers, Thackeray also claimed that Mufti told him that her party's alliance with the BJP was based on the condition that Article 370 of the Constitution will not be abolished.

BJP leader and Maharashtra deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had said on Friday that the the opposition parties were coming together only to save their dynasties. Thackeray used to criticize the BJP for forming an alliance with Mufti's party in Jammu and Kashmir, but now he was sitting next to her and talking about forming an alliance, Fadnavis had added.

“I sat next to her purposely,” Thackeray told Sena (UBT) workers here.

“Those who align with you (BJP) are clean. You left Hindutva when you went with Mehbooba? We tear up the burqa of your fake Hindutva,” he said.

Thackeray also showed the gathering photographs where Mufti is seen with top BJP leaders including Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah.

His party had not abandoned Hindutva, he said.

“I am very sensitive about my family. Do not stoop to such a low level. You (Fadnavis) also have a family, and WhatsApp chats about your family are out in the open," Thackeray said.

He was apparently referring to phone chats between Fadnavis's wife Amruta Fadnavis and alleged cricket bookie Anil Jaisinghani and his daughter Aniksha. The chats are part of a chargesheet filed against Jaisinghani, Aniksha and his cousin Nirmal in a case related to alleged demand of bribes and extortion money from Amruta Fadnavis.

Hitting back, Fadnavis, who is also the state home minister, said he, his family and the BJP were like an open book. The WhatsApp chats were included in the chargesheet with a purpose, he added.

Elsewhere, batting for Fadnavis, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde said it was unfortunate that family members were being dragged into politics.

Dubbing Thackeray as "ungrateful", Shinde said both Fadnavis and Prime Minister Narendra Modi had helped him in the past.

In a tweet, Shinde said his and 39 other Sena MLAs' rebellion against Thackeray last year stood vindicated after the opposition meeting in Patna.

Accusing Thackeray of abandoning Hindutva, Shinde said he joined the league of the Congress, Rashtriya Janata Dal, PDP and Janata Dal United, which were the parties bitterly criticised by Shiv Sena founder late Bal Thackeray.

The same people had also opposed the construction of the Ram temple, abolition of Article 370 and Hindutva, he added.

The opposition parties having to come together was, in a way, victory for Modi's leadership, Shinde added.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)