Amit Shah Accuses Uddhav Thackeray of Leading ‘Aurangzeb Fan Club’, Calls Sharad Pawar ‘Godfather of Corruption’

In his speech to start the BJP’s campaign for the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly elections, Amit Shah, Union Home Minister, referred to Sharad Pawar as the “godfather of corruption” and referred to Uddhav Thackeray as the leader of the “Aurangzeb fan club.”

Amit Shah also criticized Rahul Gandhi, the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, saying that the Congress party’s defeat in the upcoming Maharashtra, Haryana, and Jharkhand Assembly elections would break Gandhi’s conceit.

Shah emphasized that the recent Lok Sabha elections affirmed PM Modi’s approval from the Indian people. He also noted that the BJP would intensify its efforts and set new objectives, declaring, “The saffron must make a strong comeback in Maharashtra.”

On Guru Purnima, Shah greeted everyone and said there would be a review in preparation for the elections of 2024 and the establishment of the Lotus-Yuti (Mahayuti) government. He commended the BJP members for their efforts in making the party successful and noted that Prime Minister Modi had been elected to a third term in a row. Shah confidently stated that he anticipates a similar outcome in the Maharashtra Assembly elections.

The Union Minister expressed strong confidence that the BJP-led alliance will outperform its previous results in the Maharashtra assembly polls compared to the 2014 and 2019 elections.

Shah accused former Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar of being the “godfather of corruption” in India. He claimed that Pawar has institutionalized corruption and assured that such practices will no longer be tolerated.

Shah further criticized Pawar over the Maratha reservation issue, claiming that under BJP governments, Maratha reservations are consistently provided, whereas Pawar’s administrations have repeatedly scrapped them. He pointed out that the Maratha reservation was implemented in 2014 under Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, and argued that maintaining this reservation depends on ensuring a BJP victory.

Shah criticized Uddhav Thackeray, a former ally, by labeling him as the leader of a group he described as the “Aurangzeb fan club,” which he claimed cannot ensure India’s security. He accused Thackeray of associating with individuals linked to Mohamed Ajmal Kasab, seeking clemency for Yakub Memon, supporting controversial figures like Zakir Naik, backing those who support PFI, and opposing the renaming of Aurangabad to Sambhaji Nagar. Shah argued that only the BJP can guarantee the safety and security of Maharashtra and India.

Attacking Congress and Gandhi, he noted that even if you combine the seats Congress won in the last three elections, they still wouldn’t reach the 240-seat mark. He emphasized that in this election, the Indian people have once again endorsed Modi, with the BJP securing victory for the third consecutive time.

He used this analogy to take a jab at Congress and its allies. He compared their performance to two students: one who had always scored around 80 percent and aimed to improve to 90 percent, ultimately achieving 85 percent. The other student, who had consistently failed and set a lower goal of 30 percent instead of 20 percent, only managed to get 25 percent. This was meant to underscore how Congress and its allies didn’t perform as well compared to the BJP’s stronger showing.

He added Congress and its allies of fabricating fears before the Lok Sabha elections, suggesting that the Constitution might be changed and reservations ended. He countered this by stating that Modi has undertaken several measures over the past decade to ensure the continuation of reservations.