THANE: The Shiv Sena is working towards expanding and strengthening its presence in other states of the country following requests from scores of followers of Balasaheb Thackeray’s ideologies, party chief and deputy CM Eknath Shinde said.
Shinde was addressing the media Thursday afternoon in Thane on the occasion of Thackeray’s birth anniversary, where he elaborated on how the party and Yuva Sena – its youth wing – would embark on a major enrolment drive starting next month.
“We are getting requests from followers of Balasaheb and his Hindutva ideologies based in other parts of the country to establish and strengthen the Sena presence in their respective regions. Recently, many activists from the UBT faction and other parties switched loyalties to Sena after they were convinced that we will never compromise on Hindutva and Balasaheb’s ideologies for the sake of power. We are now working towards strengthening our presence,” he said.
Shinde said his party was working on realising Balasaheb’s dream that every resident of Maharashtra should benefit from all state-sponsored welfare schemes.
“We didn’t want schemes to remain on paper, so we introduced the shaasan aaplya daari initiative and reached the doorsteps of residents. Balasaheb believed in 80% social work and 20% politics and said every political worker must be active on the field and not operating from the confines of his home,” Shinde said while making a veiled attack on his former boss and UBT Chief Uddhav Thackeray.
“Our opponents always cried foul after our Mahayuti govt was formed and always criticised us, claiming the junta would deliver justice. However, our landslide victory in the recent assembly polls silenced them… Our responsibility has increased manifold, and we will continue to strive for the welfare of Maharashtra and its residents,” he said.
He further warned the UBT leaders saying that if they continued criticising his party and the Mahayuti, then the faction could be left with only two out of the present 20 MLAs.
Meanwhile, political experts said the Sena expansion plans could be seen as an attempt by the party to match pace with the BJP using the Hindutva card on the national front.
