Shiv Sena chief Balasaheb Thackeray could not make it to Shivaji Park for the party’s annual Dussehra address on Wednesday. This is only the second time since 1966 that the leader could not attend the melawa, on both occassion due to ill health.
However, he addressed his followers via a recorded address. In the recording, the senior Thackeray appeared frail and ill and the tone of the address lacked the usual optimistic fervour that it is known to have. In what almost seemed like a farewell message to the crowd, Mr Thackeray said that he was unsure if he would be in a position to lead the party again and appealed to his followers to support Uddhav and Aditya and to ensure that the Sena kept fighting for the Marathi manoos and Hindutva.
“It’s a matter of trust, between you and me and as long as that trust is there nobody can shake the Shiv Sena,” said Mr Thackeray. He added that unlike Sharad Pawar’s party and the Gandhi family, the Sena was not about a family. However, he then appealed that the people who helped him so far should give similar support to Uddhav and Aditya.
”I wanted to be amongst you, but this time my health has really put me down, I am in a real bad state,” said Mr Thackeray. He added that it was Uddhav who insisted that the book of caricatures Fatkare be published and hence his followers could enjoy reading the book.
Despite the ailing health Mr Thackeray showed glimpses that made the event so popular for four-and-half decades.
He said that Sushilkumar Shinde and Sharad Pawar were “bogus” people. Also, he said that the “Panchakadi” — Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Vadra, Robert Vadra and Ahmad Patel should be thrown out of India.
Taking on the onus of addressing the gathering, Shiv Sena executive president Uddhav Thackeray in the absence of his father tried to appease the crowd by making barbs at the leaders of the ruling alliance.
He even threatened to strangulate the forces that were trying to bifurcate the 27 per cent Marathi manoos who were left in the city.
Uddhav also touched upon the topic of the mill workers and their housing problem, attributing the non-responsiveness of the government to the issue of the dwindling Marathi people in the city.