CM Shinde claims victory over rival UBT, challenges Thackeray’s Hindutva

Chief Minister and Shiv Sena chief Eknath Shinde said that the people have endorsed his party in the Lok Sabha elections as the original party against the rival UBT faction that won seats only because of the Congress votes especially MuslimsHe was addressing the rank and file at the partyrsquos 58th foundation day on Wednesday night He questioned Uddhav Thackerayrsquos Hindutva asking the rival why he had stopped addressing the people as lsquomy dear Hindu sisters and brothersrsquo Shinde dished out poll statistics that supported his claim of superiority over UBT He read out boothwise polling numbers in the Muslimdominated areas of Mumbai where the Shinde Sena had polled in single digits while the UBT candidate had polled in many thousandsEknath Shindeled Shiv Sena celebrate their foundation day on WednesdayldquoThose claiming Balasahebrsquos Thackeray political inheritance are ashamed of calling themselves Hindus They donrsquot have the right to use Balasahebrsquos name and photo People have understood it and hence they have voted for us Our mainstay voters have remained with us We got 14 per cent out of 19 per cent UBT has got the remaining votes while the rest that helped it win have come from others On the other hand we have retained all our strongholds like Thane Kalyan Chhatrapati Sambhajinagarrdquo he said while explaining how Muslim votes lost his party some seats in Mumbai despite the NDA getting over two lakh votes more than MVA He administered an oath to the sainiks to win all the forthcoming elections including Assembly electionsShinde said he still felt that his party could have won three more seats it won 7 ldquoWe know the reasons but I wonrsquot talk about it here because Irsquom most responsible as the CM to strengthen the Mahayutirdquo he said as he called the MVArsquos gain as a temporary swelling of numbersldquoPeople who said that Shinde will be finished have been maimed by the voters Shinde will not get finished He won because of the people who loved him And he will continue to win in the future too Irsquom not scared of anything I have done what others couldnrsquot darerdquo he said adding that the revolt he staged two years ago was endorsed by the voters and proved who is the bestHe wondered how someone Thackeray could say proudly that he had voted for the Congress that had taken away his fatherrsquos right to vote ldquoHe has gone with the party that Balasaheb wanted to bury I donrsquot know why his hands did not tremble while voting for the Congressrdquo he stated further questioning the celebration by the Congress that had won only 99 seats ldquoLikewise the UBT is also celebrating despite losing 12 seatsrdquoShinde slammed the Thackeray Sena for allegations of EVM hacking ldquoWhat kind of mobile phone and OTP they used to hack the EVM to get maximum votes in some cases 99 per cent of the total polled Ravindra Waikarrsquos victory has hurt them most They should understand that he has won on merit I cannot stay calm while they are working to defeat him post resultsrdquo he saidShinde said some rallies of the UBT were marked by the Pakistani flags ldquoNever before has the bhagva saffron flag been insulted like this Show them their place in the Assembly pollsrdquo he appealed to the party workers ldquoThe accused of the Mumbai terror cases campaigned for them Yakub Memonrsquos workers were there They glorified Kasab 2611 terrorist by doubting the martyrdom of our brave police officers They were seen with the people who celebrated Aurangzeb We all know from where the fatwas were issuedrdquo added the CM saying that those claiming to be top notch in Worli will have to contest from Bhendi Bazar instead of his existing seatThe CM said Balasaheb Thackeray wasnrsquot against Muslims but the Sena founder strongly despised Muslim appeasement ldquoLike Balasaheb we too are not against Muslims Just like our leader we support patriot Muslims Balasaheb used to say Hindus were Hindursquos rivals It is time we took care of it The trend is not good for Mumbai and the countryrdquo he said while insisting that the government and party were for the welfare of the minorities including MuslimsShinde lauded PM Narendra Modi for his return and challenged the opponents who had wished for his ouster