Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray on Friday criticised the move of Abhijit Gangopadhyay to resign as judge of the Calcutta High Court and join the Bharatiya Janata Party and also took a swipe at Maharashtra Assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar while citing conflict of interest.
Gangopadhyay, who resigned as judge on Tuesday, joined the BJP in West Bengal on Thursday claiming his "objective was to oust the corrupt Trinamul Congress regime in the state".
Thackeray also asked if the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh was okay with the BJP inducting leaders against whom the ruling party had once made damning corruption allegations.
Addressing a rally in Kalamb in Dharashiv district, Thackeray said, "A judge resigned in West Bengal and joined the BJP to contest Lok Sabha polls. He gave judgements against the Trinamool Congress. Now how can we say he would have upheld the sacredness of his work (as judge)." "Similarly, the Maharashtra Assembly Speaker (Rahul Narwekar) was given the lure of a Lok Sabha seat (by BJP) and a decision against us was obtained from him (in MLA disqualification case)," Thackeray alleged.
A day after he asked Union minister and senior BJP leader Nitin Gadkari to join the Maha Vikas Aghadi and fight on an opposition ticket, Thackeray claimed the BJP was out to "finish the political life" of former state minister Pankaja Munde.
Slamming the BJP for claiming he was not the president of his party, Thackeray asked, if that was the case, then why was he invited to Varanasi and Gandhinagar when Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Minister Amit Shah filed their nominations for the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.
Speaking about semiconductor units being set up in Gujarat, Thackeray said he had nothing against the state or its people but its development should not be at the cost of others.
Criticising PM Modi's visit to Jammu and Kashmir, Thackeray said courage should be shown to go to strife torn Manipur as well.
Speaking at a rally in Bhum, he asked the RSS to clarify its stand on the BJP inducting leaders against whom there are corruption allegations, many of which were levelled by the ruling party itself.
"BJP functionaries work hard for the party but then see corrupt leaders being inducted to sit over them. The RSS must clarify if its is okay with this," said Thackeray, whose two-day visit of Latur and Dharashiv ended on Friday.
Hitting out at the Narendra Modi government's agriculture policy, Thackeray said all promises made to farmers had been broken.
"The Modi government had said an additional 50 per cent will be added to cost of crop production while deciding its price but this has not happened. Farmers have not got insurance claims for crop loss," he claimed.
Mocking the BJP's 'Modi ka parivaar' social media initiative, Thackeray asked if farmers were not part of the PM's family.
The NDA earlier consisted of multiple parties but is now like a blanket full of patchwork, he said.
If the BJP is so confident of winning, then why does it need to align with NCP's Ajit Pawar and Chief Minister Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena, he asked.
Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by The Telegraph Online staff and has been published from a syndicated feed.
