Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray on Sunday said his party doesn't discriminate between Marathi-speaking people and north Indians settled in Mumbai, remarks viewed as an outreach to the key vote bank ahead of the crucial city civic polls.
Addressing a gathering of north Indians, the former Maharashtra chief minister called for unity and said Hindutva doesn't mean spreading hate and dividing people.
"I fell out with BJP but I never abandoned Hindutva. The BJP is not Hindutva. Uttar Bharatiyas want answers on what Hindutva is. Hating each other is not Hindutva. We don't discriminate between Marathi-speaking and north Indian people residing in Mumbai," Thackeray said and appealed to the community to sink the past misunderstandings.
Significantly, the Shiv Sena has always projected itself as the sole guardian of the sons of the soil and had led violent agitations against north Indians in the past.
Thackeray said he walked out of the alliance with BJP to protect his dignity and joined hands with the NCP and Congress to form the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) after the 2019 Assembly polls.
".....Otherwise I would have been a slave with a belt around my neck just like some of my people have now become," he said in an apparent reference to the rebel Shiv Sena MLAs who belong to the Balasahebanchi Shiv Sena faction led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde.
Thackeray said he becomes a victim of the smear campaign whenever he meets north Indians or Muslims and questioned are raised on his Hindutva.
"My meeting with you has been criticised. If I meet Muslims, it is said I have given up Hindutva. When PM Narendra Modi came to Mumbai two days back, whose kitchen did he go to? If I had done that I would have been called anti-Hindu. But if the prime minister does that then it is said he has a big heart. I want to make it clear we have nothing against the Bohra community. They are with us," he said.
During his latest visit to Mumbai, the prime minister inaugurated the new Marol campus of the Aljamea-tus-Saifiyah Arabic Academy, a prominent educational institution of the Bohra community, and said he had come there as a family member of the community.
Thackeray accused the BJP of creating a rift among Hindus.
"I come here to open your eyes and not provoke you. Shiv Sena never discriminates among people while helping them when it comes to blood donation or taking patients to hospitals in their ambulances. If we are together for five years why should we be separate during elections? "he asked.
He said everyone should come together to protect the freedom achieved from the British and ensure we don't become slaves of our people.
"These people don't have the daring to call for elections- be it for Lok Sabha, Maharashtra Assembly, or municipal corporations. They don't have guts to face challenges and they call themselves leaders of Hindus," he said targetting the BJP.
Thackeray also said that unity among people is the "Security Kavach" for him.
He took a dig at Maharashtra governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari quitting the office, saying it was a good day for the state.
"Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj's coronation was performed by a priest from north India, and today the person who insulted Shivaji Maharaj has been sent back," he said.
In the 2017 Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation polls, the BJP made giant strides by winning 82 seats, just two seats behind the Shiv Sena in the 227-member civic body.
The Bharatiya Janata Party, which shares power with the Balasahebanchi Shiv Sena faction, has said it would register a record win in the Mumbai civic polls, due since early last year.