Notwithstanding the ruling Shiv Sena-NCP-Congress combine mentioning the word “secular” in the preamble of its Common Minimum Programme (CMP), Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Sunday, 1 December said he would never abandon the ideology of Hindutva.
Thackeray, who heads the Sena, told the Legislative Assembly that ideology of Hindutva cannot be separated from him.
“I am still with the ideology of Hindutva which cannot be separated from me,” he said while addressing the special session.
Thackeray also took a swipe at former chief minister and BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis on Hindutva.
“To keep a promise is also part of my Hindutva. I have been following my Hindutva yesterday, today and will continue to do so in future as well,” Thackeray said.
Thackeray's barb came against the backdrop of the then CM Fadnavis rejecting Thackeray's claim after the 24 October poll results that the BJP had promised the Sena a rotational chief ministership in new NDA government that was not formed then.
The Sena and the BJP had contested the 21 October elections together, but the saffron allies fell out bitterly over the Sena's demand for splitting the post of chief minister for equal term with the BJP.
The BJP won 105 out of the total 288 seats while the Sena won 56, followed by the NCP (54) and the Congress (44).
After falling out with the BJP and the NDA, the Sena joined hands with the NCP and the Congress to form Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) coalition government of which Thackeray is chief minister.
The MVA government won the floor test on 30 November with the support of 169 MLAs in the 288-member House, four days after the 80-hours-old BJP-Ajit Pawar government collapsed for want of numbers.
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)