Mumbai:
The Tiger's roar was missing at Shiv Sena's Dussehra rally in Mumbai on Wednesday evening. Shiv Sena supremo Balasaheb Thackeray is showing clear signs of ageing. Not in his otherwise aggressive style, Balasaheb was pleading with folded hands to Marathi manoos to stay united and not to let the Shiv Sena down.
Bal Thackeray's pre-recorded speech was played at the Shivaji Park in Mumbai on Wednesday evening as his ailing health prevented him from addressing the Shiv sainiks which he has been doing religiously for the past many years on the occasion of Dussehra.
Admitting that he has become 86-years-old now, he urged the sainiks to support his son Uddhav and grandson Aditya, much the same way as they had been supporting the party for the past 46 years. He reminded the people how he had worked tirelessly to unite the Marathi people under Shiv Sena. An emotionally charged Balasaheb, in a softer tone, said that it hurts to see the party that took birth in Mumbai's Darar area, splitting into two. His nephew Raj Thackeray had broken away from the Sena to form his own political party, the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS).
And as expected, this year too Balasaheb's prime targets were the usual ones - NCP chief Sharad Pawar and the Gandhi family. He said it is high time that the group of five - Sonia Gandhi, Rahul, Priyanka, Robert Vadra and Ahmed Patel - should be thrown out.
Coming down heavily on Sharad Pawar for his links in the controversial Lavasa hill station project, the senior Thackeray labelled Mr Pawar and Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde as "useless" people. He also hinted that all controversial files have been burnt in the fire at Mantralaya and hence nothing would come out of white paper on any scam.
Balasaheb also charged the people for taking money to vote and then the same people joining the movement against corruption of Anna Hazare. He, however, said that the Shiv sainik could never stoop so low and he was confident about it.
Mentioning that India has become a country of cheaters, Balasaheb said that the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is being used by the government to give clean chits to corrupt ministers like Finance Minister P Chidambaram. He also questioned the logic of the courts in giving relief to leaders like former chief of the Mumbai Congress Kripashankar Singh, who is alleged to have amassed assets worth over Rs. 300 crore, disproportionate to his known sources of income, saying that the relief time is given so that the matter could be settled.