Well, you may say yes to the question or totally disagree but Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, one time staunchest supporter and ally of BJP, certainly thinks so.

Uddhav, addressing a virtual Dussehra Shiv Sena rally, tore into the very core of the BJP and attacked it like no other. Not even Rahul Gandhi is so venomous when he takes on his bitter rival, Modi.

Uddhav said Shiv Sena’s Hindutva was about nationalism, and not “clanging bells and utensils, a direct reference to Modi’s theatrical appeals during the Covid pandemic lockdown days.

On the BJP’s election promise of providing free Covid-19 vaccine in Bihar, Thackeray angrily asked: “Is the rest of the country Pakistan or Bangladesh or Kazakhstan? Those who are speaking like this and playing divisive politics should be ashamed of themselves.”

Referring to BJP’s Bollywood darling Kangana Ranaut for likening Mumbai to Pakistan Occupied Kashmir, he said, “Those who come to Mumbai for bread and butter, abusing Mumbai by comparing it with PoK”, are “namakharam (ungrateful)”.

To compare Mumbai with PoK was an insult of Modi who has been PM for six years, and had promised to bring back PoK, Thackeray said. “If a PoK is being created in a country that is ruled by Modi, then it is the failure of the PM and not of the state.”

Taking on the BJP, he said, “When your foundation stones weaken, you have no ideology, norms of conduct, culture, nothing. Such a government is not going to last long. I again challenge you (the BJP) to topple our government (in Maharashtra) but first protect your government (in Delhi). Because one day, people will look beyond you and say, ‘give us anyone else, but not you’. This thought has already started.”

“I feel that the GST system has failed, and I appeal to all Chief Ministers of the country to come forward to discuss this. I feel that the Prime Minister should accept the lacunae in the GST system honestly, and that it should be amended accordingly. Otherwise, we should revert to the old tax regime that will benefit the states. The country is not the property of one political party,” he said.

The BJP promised to provide free Covid-19 vaccine in Bihar. Uddhav lashed out: “Is the rest of the country Pakistan or Bangladesh or Kazakhstan? Those who are speaking like this and playing divisive politics should be ashamed of themselves.”

Without naming Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari, Thackeray said those who were questioning the Shiv Sena’s Hindutva were “hiding in their holes” when the Babri Masjid was demolished. “People who were not known beyond their family, are asking us questions on Hindutva. Your Hindutva is about clanging bells and utensils; our Hindutva is not like that. Our Hindutva is nationalism,” he said.

BJP/Modi trouble spots:

Chinese incursion

Hasty, unplanned, unwise lockdown

Weak economy, rising unemployment, over loss of business

Shiromani Akali Dal leaves NDA

Friendly Nepal turns antagonistic

All round GST failure

The post From lockdown to Chinese land grab, is BJP/Modi losing the plot? appeared first on The Correspondent.