‘Join hands to save this city': Aaditya Thackeray to Mumbaikars
MUMBAI: Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray on Monday launched the party's mobilisation campaign titled 'Ladha Aaplya Mumbaicha' (Fight for our Mumbai), where he expressed the need to fight for Mumbai on the lines of the historic Samyukta Maharashtra movement in the 1950s. 'They (the BJP) want to take away Mumbai from the Marathi manoos and gift it to Adani,' he said. 'Come and join the battle to save this city.'
Aaditya was speaking at a gathering at Kalidas Auditorium in Mulund, where he made a presentation to show how lands across Mulund, Kurla, Malvani and Deonar had been allocated to the Adani group in the name of the Dharavi Redevelopment Project. 'All Dharavi residents should get homes in Dharavi only and not elsewhere,' he said, adding that the BJP, to 'serve its master', wanted to hand over Mumbai to him.
Hitting out at the BJP-Adani liaison, Aaditya said that to clean up the Deonar dumping ground for Adani's Dharavi project, the BMC would have to spend over ₹2,000 crore. 'And to recover this money, the BMC has proposed to levy a garbage collection tax on Mumbai's citizens,' he said. Referring to Eknath Shinde by his Thackeray-given moniker Bhrashtanath Mindhe (Corrupt and Subservient), he alleged that he had played a role in the BJP's plan to give Mumbai to Adani.
Pointing out that Monday was the anniversary of Hindu king Chhatrapati Shivaji, Aaditya lamented that it was also a time when Mumbai, Maharashtra and the Marathi manoos were in danger. 'As they failed in their plan to separate Mumbai from Maharashtra, they are now conspiring to take it from the Marathi manoos by handing the city to the Adani group,' he said.
Aaditya emphasised that once the city fell into the hands of a businessman, the people's representatives would have no control. 'So we will have to fight for Mumbai like we did during the Samyukta Maharashtra movement. This fight is not of a political party but of all Mumbaikars. Come and join it to save Mumbai,' said Aaditya in what sounded like the Sena (UBT')s campaign theme for the upcoming BMC polls.
The Mumbai civic polls are crucial for the Sena (UBT), which suffered a serious setback in last year's assembly elections, winning only 20 seats in the state, 10 of these in Mumbai. The BMC has been the Shiv Sena's and Thackeray family's source of strength and influence for decades.
Aaditya also pointed out how all his allegations regarding corruption in the BMC and infrastructure projects in Mumbai had turned out to be true. 'I was the first to raise my voice on the cement road scam,' he said. 'Today, we can all see the condition of the roads and the quality of work. In October 2024, I warned about corruption in the Thane-Borivali belt, and now the Supreme Court has forced the authorities to cancel the tender.'
Aaditya clarified that his party had no personal conflict with anyone, including Adani. 'But if you charge at Mumbai, we will stand in front of you, we will fight and we will win,' he said.
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