Governments not being formed through ballot boxes: Uddhav Thackeray

Shiva Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray, in an indirect attack on his political rivals, said that many people sacrificed their lives to get freedom from the slavery under the British but now a situation arose where anyone can become the prime minister by tampering with the ballot boxes. Governments were no longer being formed through the election mandate, he said during his visit to Amravati.

Mumbai/Amravati (Maharashtra) : The political scene is changing rapidly in Maharashtra now. Former Maharashtra Chief Minister and Shiv Sena (U) chief Uddhav Thackeray expressed his regret while talking to reporters in Amravati that the government used to be formed through ballot boxes once, but now unfortunately the power is coming from non-ballot boxes.

Uddhav Thackeray, who is on Vidarbha tour, arrived here to interact with office bearers and activists of Amravati and Akolya in Amravati today. Addressing a press conference on the occasion, Uddhav Thackeray appealed to the people and the like-minded organisations to join in the fight against the undemocratic forces in the country.

When asked about the unity among opposition leaders like Nitish Kumar, Mamata Banerjee and Sharad Pawar, the Shiv Sena leader appealed to all democratic forces to come together and fight for their right to freedom. He said that many people sacrificed their lives to get freedom from the slavery of the British but now a situation arose where anyone can become the prime minister by tampering with the boxes.

Stating that he thought about this whole situation many times, Uddhav said that their former chief late Balasaheb Thackeray had demanded right to recall in the country long ago and that demand would seem very appropriate going by the present political situation in the country. "Now after the monsoon ends, the battle of elections will start in the country. Against this backdrop, I have set out on a tour of the whole of Maharashtra to meet the Shiv Sainiks who truly love Shiv Sena, who are with me in all the times," he said.

Uddhav Thackeray expressed regret that the politics of breaking up a rival political party has been going on in the state and the country for a long time, but now they are stealing elected representatives directly from other parties.

As Uddhav Thackeray came to Amravati, an atmosphere of tension arose in the city with rival party supporters demolishing the Shiva Sena posters put up all over the city to welcome him. When Uddhav Thackeray was asked about this, he refrained from making any comment. Shiv Sena was defeated in Amravati Lok Sabha constituency in last elections despite its successive victories in the seat many times prior to that. However, Uddhav Thackeray expressed the confidence that whoever was elected last time would not last long.