MUMBAI: Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray was at his sarcastic best as he mounted a scathing attack at former ally BJP and took potshots at his predecessor Devendra Fadnavis for his comment that he still felt like the CM. 

“I pray to God that I should never feel I am the chief minister. I want to be known as your brother and family member. We have seen people who arrogantly said that they will again come as chief minister,” Thackeray said at his party Shiv Sena’s annual Dussehra rally in Mumbai. On Tuesday, Fadnavis had said that because of the people’s love, he did not feel he had ceased to be the CM.

Targeting the BJP, Thackeray said hunger for power was like ‘drug addiction’ and dared it to topple his government. “I was not interested in the chief ministerial post but I had given the word to Balasaheb Thackeray that one day, I will make a Shiv Sainik the chief minister of Maharashtra,” Thackeray said, adding that had fulfilled the promise.

In his no-holds-barred attack, the Sena supremo said that Hindutva faced threat today not from outsiders from “neo-Hindus” who climbed the ladder of power using the ideology. Accusing the BJP of dividing people on the lines of caste and religion, he said, “They have adopted the British policy of divide and rule… so that they can get power and remain in power. Power is like a drug for them.”

Referring to the NCB raids and arrests in Mumbai in Thackeray hit out at the “selective outrage” and alleged that “when it comes to Maharashtra, every small issue is blown out of proportion”. “They call Mumbai police mafia. What will you call UP Police then?” He asserted that the BJP had made no contribution to the freedom struggle and had no right to speak about Mahatma Gandhi or Veer Savarkar.