At Thackerays reunion rally at Worli dome, a surprise guest
Sule was certainly a surprise guest; her party isn't officially a part of the rally. Though most political analysts won't be surprised by her presence there because NCP (SCP) is an alliance partner of the Uddhav faction of the Shiv Sena.
Supriya Sule was seen seated in the front row at the rally at the Worli Dome, along with Shiv Sena UBT MP Priyanka Chaturvedi and others.
Before taking the stage for the speech, the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief shared a hug with Shiv Sena UBT chief Uddhav Thackeray. The two cousins, who parted ways in 2005, are holding their first joint rally in two decades as the Maharashtra government scrapped two GRs to introduce Hindi as the third language in the state under the New Education Policy (NEP).
Speaking at the rally, MNS chief Raj Thackeray took a dig at chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, saying that he did what Shiv Sena founder Balasaheb Thackeray couldn't do: uniting the two cousins.
"I had said in one of my interviews that my Maharashtra is bigger than any politics and fight. Today, after 20 years, Uddhav and I have come together. What Balasaheb could not do, Devendra Fadnavis did it... The work of bringing both of us together," he said.
Raj Thackeray said that he doesn't have anything against the Hindi language. He pointed out that the Maratha empire didn't impose Marathi over the vast regions it ruled.
'I don't have anything against Hindi, no language is bad. It takes a lot of effort to build a language. We Marathi people ruled over a lot of states during the Maratha Empire, but we never enforced Marathi on those parts,' he said.
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Uddhav's tone turned sharper as he targeted the BJP, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and Shinde, accusing them of allegedly using divisive tactics and betraying Maharashtra's interests. 'Mumbai was earned through the blood of Marathi people. And now, some (in the BJP) claim, 'Aren't we Marathi too?' You're only Marathi by name — we may have to check your blood to confirm,' Uddhav said, while claiming the BJP was never present in the fight for Maharashtra's true struggles. 'In the Samyukta Maharashtra movement (in the late 1950s), the Jana Sangh (the precursor to the BJP) arrived at the end and left soon after. And now they want to teach us nationalism and Maharashtra pride? Their only policy is 'sell everything'. They are shredding Mumbai to pieces and handing it over to corporate giants like Adani. Are we just supposed to sit back and watch?' Uddhav said. He also addressed speculations about his alliance with Raj, saying some quarters have tried to drive a wedge between them. 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