Raj Thackeray says something big will happen in months, demands ballot paper voting

At the Shiv Sena's Dussehra rally, Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray and MP Sanjay Raut launched a strong attack on the Modi government at the Centre. They said dictatorship was under way in the country and that students who were protesting were being beaten. Raut also claimed that Modi would go out of power in April. MNS chief Raj Thackeray has now endorsed what Raut said.

Raj Thackeray demanded that elections in the country be held only on ballot papers. He said something big would happen in the country in the next two to five months, there would be disturbance, and there would be a brief period when the country would have no Prime Minister. Raj also noted that Raut had spoken about regime change and that he had spoken to Raut. He said the photograph with Epstein had come out, many more things would come out, this would not stop, and the government would keep making mistake after mistake. He predicted that he would not be surprised if the country came out on the streets in the next few years.

Speaking on ballot papers, Raj said he had been working since 2018 for voting to be held on ballot papers and had also met and spoken to the commissioners. Earlier people did not understand this, but now they do. A voter should get the satisfaction that he cast his vote and it fell into the ballot box; losing or winning is a separate matter. He said Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nepal also vote on ballot papers. In France, machines have been scrapped and ballot papers have returned. Assembly and Lok Sabha elections are not held together. Counting is done quickly, yet results come late. He asked what if it takes four days, and who is in a hurry.

Raj said the children who came out on the streets during the NEET agitation did not come out only for NEET. People have some anger or other in their minds, and they came out to express it. He said a drought has been declared in the state and a shortage of foodgrains will come, and these are situations the government cannot handle. Children protesting peacefully were lathi-charged though they had done nothing. Taking the side of the protesters, he asked whether the BJP had forgotten its old days and said its leaders should put up their own photograph next time.

Raj said democracy exists in America, not here. At the Oscars, actors say anything about Trump, but no fatwas are issued there. He said police have told that the documentary on Adani and Modi made by Shabir Bhatia should be taken down. He asked whether people should then watch only BJP-sponsored films. He said nobody has come with a lease for eternal power, change is necessary, and asked whether half pants had not become full pants.

Pointing out that a man in a murder case was granted bail while a CJP man was arrested, Raj said the High Court and the Supreme Court should also reflect on how they are delivering decisions. He asked which institutions have stayed autonomous, and whether even journalists have. He said power is not in Mohan Bhagwat's hands but in the hands of the people of the country. Power came in 2014 because of Narendra Modi, not because of the RSS. If the RSS has the misconception that it brought the power, that is wrong, Raj Thackeray said, advising the RSS as well.