MUMBAI: In a Dussehra Day podcast the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) President Raj Thackeray on Saturday called upon the people of the state to ‘vote for change’ and spark a political revolution in the upcoming Assembly elections.
Without wasting time in an overdose of festival pleasantries, Raj Thackeray sported his usual stern countenance and chided the masses for sticking to the same old political parties or leaders, rather than voting for alternatives.
“On the day of elections you drop your weapon… The powerful vote. You think this one is from my caste, that one is from this community, or he is my acquaintance. Thereafter for the next five years you keep abusing those very people you have chosen… The state doesn’t benefit from this. Why can’t you use the weapon on polling day instead of wasting your vote, ” asked Raj Thackeray irately.
The MNS, which is likely to go solo in the state polls, is relying on the theme of ‘Abhi Nahi to Kabhi Nahi (Now or Never)’, calling for a ‘revolution in the election’, in a plea almost bordering on desperation as the 18-year-old party bids for power.
“This Dussehra festival is very crucial… The elections will come soon afterwards. If you remain complacent again, as in the past, it will not help. They keep insulting you, your votes, ” said Raj Thackeray.
Taking a jibe at the series of Dussehra rallies lined up today in the state, the MNS chief said that “they will make tall claims” of the development and progress achieved so far, while taking the masses for granted.
“They will make tall talks of roads, bridges, flyovers, or how everyone has got mobiles, television sets, etc… Mind you… these are just gadgets and are not development. The ‘real progress’ should be in the minds of people and the society around us…” urged Raj Thackeray.
Despite being let down repeatedly in the past elections, Raj Thackeray said, “I still don’t see any anger in you… You keep voting for the same people over and over again, who have looted you continuously. They keep betraying you repeatedly.”
He asked the people “not to let the coming elections go waste and retaliate strongly”, seeking an opportunity for the MNS that he founded in March 2006 after he quit the (undivided) Shiv Sena.
The estranged cousin of Shiv Sena (UBT) President and ex-Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray – without taking any specific names – the MNS supremo alleged that “all political parties have betrayed the people all these years, and now is the time to display your anger.”
“You have given a chance to everyone but they have let you down… I appeal that you give us one opportunity to serve you. I have a dream for this state… We shall make a Maharashtra that the whole world will envy, ” declared Raj Thackeray, whose MNS has a solitary MLA in the outgoing House.
Several Dussehra rallies are lined up across the state during the auspicious festival day.
Besides Raj Thackeray’s podcast today and a rally on Sunday, the RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat delivered his traditional Dussehra address in Nagpur; this afternoon, Bharatiya Janata Party’s Pankaja Munde will have a meeting along with her cousin and Nationalist Congress Party Minister Dhananjay Munde in Beed. Shiv Sena chief and CM Eknath Shinde and ex-CM Uddhav Thackeray will have the SS(UBT) rally in Mumbai; while Shivba Sanghatana leader and Maratha quota crusader Manoj Jarange-Patil will hold a separate rally in Beed today.