Addressing party workers, MNS leader takes potshots at PM, claims air strikes were 'staged' to win Lok Sabha elections
MNS chief Raj Thackeray at the meeting in Bandra. Pic/Rane Ashish
MNS chief Raj Thackeray on Saturday came down heavily on Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the recent air strikes on Pakistan, describing it as an attempt to divert the attention of the people from real issues plaguing the country.
Accusing Modi of politicising the Pulwama attack and the subsequent act of seeking revenge through an air strike, Thackeray said he feared yet another "staged" incident would be used to fan the patriotism of countrymen for exploiting the voters to the BJP's advantage in the Lok Sabha polls.
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The MNS leader was speaking at a party workers' meeting in Bandra, where he took potshots at the BJP government and PM Modi over several issues, including the PM's visit to Pakistan during Nawab Sharif's birthday, the Pulwama attack, Balakot strikes and the Rafale deal. He also showed an earlier video clip of Modi, where he had claimed "that the mercantile community is more courageous than the jawans". "This is the PM, who said that he has lot of respect for our armed and defence forces," he said.
He also raised doubts over the Indian government's claims made in the Balakot surgical strike, saying that pilot Abhinandan Varthaman wouldn't have returned alive from Pakistan had "our air strike killed a significant number of Pakistanis".
"The government is lying to the people on the recent air strikes because they want to use this topic to win elections. Mark my words, there will be yet another Pulwama-like incident in the country, and they will make patriotic speeches. Nationalism is the only way for the BJP to garner votes because they haven't fulfilled any promise given to the people in the past five years," said Thackeray. He further alleged that national security advisor Ajit Doval's son was in a business partnership with a Pakistani national.
Thackeray, however, praised the Army and Air Force. "The Air Force pilots did hit the targets that were given to them, but the fact is that they were given wrong information by the government authorities," he claimed.
Speaking about the Rafale deal, Thackeray said that no one was questioning the reliability of the jets, but the real issue was regarding the contract. "Modi has been saying that if we had Rafale jets, things would have been a lot different. Does this mean that he does not trust our Air Force pilots? Rafale jets might be good and I am not questioning that, but the point is why was Anil Ambani's company given the contract?"
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