Mumbai, Oct 25 (IANS): Shiv Sena-UBT President and Maharashtra's ex-Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Tuesday said that India needs a strong government at the Centre for stability, but no party should be given a brute majority in the interest of the people and country.

Addressing the customary Dassehra Rally at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Park, he told the huge audience that it was from the very same venue that the late Balasaheb Thackeray had once given a call to have a ‘strong government’ at the Centre.

"We have given full strength to the Bharatiya Janata Party and Prime Minister Narendra Modi… But, look what has happened. The country has slid on all fronts… They have got a full majority in Parliament but the people of the country have not benefited, there is distress everywhere," claimed Thackeray.

Henceforth, Thackeray urged that the opposition INDIA bloc must be given an opportunity with full strength but without total majority to any single party to avoid a repeat of the BJP regime.

"In the past, the former PMs P. V. Narasimha Rao or Dr. Manmohan Singh performed very well… They did not have a full majority. We need a government that can take everybody along and rule. When the government remains a bit shaky, the country remains stable," thundered Thackeray.

Targetting Prime Minister Modi, Thackeray said that the BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), which functioned extremely well during the coronavirus pandemic is now being probed for corruption.

"Recently, (Union Home Minister) Amit Shah had gone to Chhattisgarh and warned that when the BJP comes to power there, he will hang all the corrupt people upside down. What about Maharashtra? The same 40 MLAs who took ‘Khokhas’ (slang for Rs 1 crore) or someone like (Deputy CM) Ajit Pawar whom the PM had called as ‘corrupt’ are now in their government? Why not hang them upside down?” demanded Thackeray.

He said that instead of digging into khichdi or bodybags bills of the BMC, if the government has guts, then they should probe the PM Cares Fund, the accounts of which are not declared, or probe every state and let everything come out.

The Sena-UBT leader warned the BJP and the bureaucrats to "stop harassing us, or when we come to power, we shall also hang you upside down".

To Modi’s criticism of ‘dynastic politics’, Thackeray took a swipe saying that first a person should start a family before criticising others’ dynasties, and questioned the BJP which has ministers whose children are MPs or MLAs.

Turning to the delays in the Shiv Sena-UBT case on the disqualification of 16 MLAs, including Shiv Sena’s CM Eknath Shinde, Thackeray said that they are beset with the scenario of ‘tarikh pe tarikh’ (date after date) and the matter remains stuck.

The ex-CM pointed out how, over a year after the Shiv Sena-UBT filed its case, and the SC has pulled up the Speaker (Rahul Narwekar), but nothing has moved, and "we don’t know what to do now", and said let the Speaker give the decision as per his time-table.

"I have no intent to insult the judiciary or the judges, but there's resentment now… At this rate, we have to contemplate whether the Supreme Court will remain relevant or not, whether Democracy envisaged by Dr. B. R. Ambedkar would survive or not… But we have full faith in the SC," said Thackeray.

On the Marathas reservations issue, he slammed the state government for the brutal attacks on the peaceful protest by the community in Jalna last month, and likened it to Gen. Reginald Dyer’s blitzkrieg on the Jallianwala Bagh protestors in 1919.

"When I was the CM, there was the Maratha quotas agitation, but I never ordered such brutality… Where are we headed… I advise Manoj Jarange-Patil to beware of the government. Why didn’t the BJP resolve the reservations issue in the recent Special Session of Parliament,” Thackeray asked.

Others who addressed the rally included Leader of Opposition in the Council Ambadas Danve, Sanjay Raut, MLA Bhaskar Jadhav, Sushma Andhare, Nitin Bangude-Patil, and ex-Mayor Kishori Pednekar.

Thackeray also touched upon the issue of belittling the importance of Mumbai as the country’s financial powerhouse and attempts to break it from Maharashtra, the need for the upcoming Bullet Train project, the manner in which the Dharavi redevelopment project is being handled and the targeting of Opposition parties by the BJP.

(Quaid Najmi can be contacted at q.najmi@ians.in)