Whole World Knew Balasaheb Thackeray as Hindu hriday samrat': Shiv Sena UBT Leader
Mumbai: Shiv Sena UBT legislator Sunil Prabhu while appearing as a witness in the disqualification petitions against the Shiv Sena MLAs, denied that Uddhav Thackeray has softened the Hindutva ideology of the party. Mr. Prabhu said that Shiv Sena can never go away from Hindutva and the whole world knows Balasaheb Thackeray as ‘Hindu hriday samrat’.
Mr. Prabhu, who has been appointed as Shiv Sena legislative party’s chief whip, was extensively cross-examined by advocate Mahesh Jethmalani appearing for the Eknath Shinde faction. The disqualification petitions filed by the Thackeray faction against the 38 MLAs, including chief minister Eknath Shinde and his supporters, are based on their alleged defiance of whips issued by Mr. Prabhu after June 20,2023.
The stand taken by the Shinde faction is that they are the original ‘Shiv Sena’ party and they have distanced themselves from Uddhav Thackeray, who they allege was trying to take the party away from its core ideology of Hindutva.
During the cross-examination, advocate Jethmalani said that Uddhav Thackeray has abandoned Hindutva and joined hands with the Congress and Nationalist Congress Party, to which Mr. Prabhu said it was absolutely false.
However, when Mr. Jethmalani asked him if the Congress and NCP have ever opposed or condemned Hindutva ideology, Mr. Prabhu replied that he doesn’t remember it.
Advocate Jethmalani also said that the Shiv Sena UBT (the faction led by Uddhav Thackeray) is not a party, but merely a group of leaders. He also asked Mr. Prabhu whether he knows that Balasaheb Thackeray was known as ‘Hindu hriday samrat’. To this Mr. Prabhu said, “The whole world knows it.”
The deposition of two witnesses called by the Thackeray faction, including Mr. Prabhu and secretary of Shiv Sena legislative party office Vijay Joshi, concluded on Saturday. The further hearing of the disqualification petitions will resume in Nagpur on December 7, when the deposition of witnesses cited by the Shinde faction will begin.
The Supreme Court has directed the Maharashtra Assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar to decide the petitions before December 31. Accordingly, the Speaker has asked both sides to conclude their final arguments by December 22.
