Mumbai: Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray on Friday reacted to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ‘fake Shiv Sena’ attack, saying his party was founded by Bal Thackeray to fight for the rights of “sons of soil”. In a sharp jibe at the BJP stalwart, he claimed his party was not “your degree”.

“The Shiv Sena, founded by the Shiv Sena chief (Bal Thackeray) to fight for the rights of sons of soil, is being called fake. It is not your degree to call it fake,” Uddhav Thackeray said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, at a rally in Maharashtra earlier this week, called the Uddhav Thackeray-led political party “fake Shiv Sena”.

“INDIA alliance partner DMK is talking about finishing Sanatan and linking Sanatana Dharma to malaria and dengue. And the Congress and the fake Shiv Sena are calling the same people for rallies in Maharashtra,” the PM had said.

Eknath Shinde, a former loyalist of the Thackeray family, led a rebellion of Shiv Sena MLAs and MPs against Uddhav Thackeray’s leadership in 2022, forcing a vertical split in the party. Shinde later joined hands with the BJP and replaced Thackeray as the chief minister of Maharashtra.

Earlier this year, Maharashtra assembly speaker Rahul Narwekar ruled that Eknath Shinde’s faction was the real Shiv Sena, pushing Uddhav Thackeray to the margins of Maharashtra’s politics.

Uddhav Thackeray predicts INDIA win

Uddhav Thackeray‘s Shiv Sena (UBT) is contesting the Lok Sabha elections in alliance with the Congress and Nationalist Congress Party – Sharadchandra Pawar.

Speaking at a rally in Boisar on Friday, Uddhav Thackeray said the INDIA bloc will win over 300 seats in the Lok Sabha elections.

He said the Vadhavan port project should be scrapped.

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“If you are going ahead with the Vadhavan project by not taking into consideration the concerns of people, then go ahead. We will run the people’s bulldozer over this government,” Thackeray said.

The ₹76,220-crore Vadhavan port project is being developed by the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT) and Maharashtra Maritime Board. It recently received environment clearance.

With inputs from PTI