BJP MLA Parinay Phuke slams Thackeray cousins' march, questions MNS strength

Nagpur: BJP MLA Dr Parinay Phuke on Sunday criticised the march led by the Thackeray cousins, saying it was not a protest over public issues. He called it a pitiable attempt to stay in the media spotlight with a Sunday picnic and to save their finished political existence.

Speaking to the media, Phuke said, "Today's march by the Thackeray brothers is an attempt to throw dust in the eyes of ordinary citizens. It was held to save their own collapsed political shop."

Phuke raised the issue of voter lists. After the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, he said, the Opposition had raised serious objections to the rolls. Rahul Gandhi alleged irregularities in the lists. Sharad Pawar and Uddhav Thackeray also brought alleged errors to the notice of the Election Commission, and there were complaints of duplicate and triplicate names. Dr Phuke claimed the Election Commission took note and began the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process.

Phuke added that while carrying out the SIR, the Election Commission had appealed to all political parties to cooperate, and had asked them to appoint booth-level officers (BLOs) to carry the process forward. He alleged, however, that the MNS and the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT) faction did not appoint a single BLO. The Congress appointed BLOs, but they too did not work as expected, Dr Phuke said.

"After the Jantar Mantar protest, there was a demand for Dharmendra Pradhan's resignation, and then the Opposition suddenly woke up. The public has noticed that the Opposition's role is now being played by Deepake," Dr Phuke said.

Alleging that the Thackeray cousins are trying to build a bigger agitation than Deepake's, Phuke said, "There were hired people at today's march as well. It was an attempt to gather a crowd and show political strength."

Speaking about Raj Thackeray's participation in the MPSC agitation, Dr Phuke questioned the political strength of the MNS. "Raj Thackeray's party now has only a handful of workers left. So he cannot build a big agitation anywhere on his own strength," he said.

Phuke said the MNS has been forced to protest in Mumbai together with the UBT faction. He said the MNS does not have enough workers in other parts of Maharashtra, and so it is trying to keep its political existence alive by joining other parties' agitations.

"This is a pitiable attempt to keep their political shop running by joining other parties' protests," MLA Dr Parinay Phuke said.