BJP MLA Nitesh Rane took a sarcastic swipe at former Maharashtra Chief Minister and Shiv Sena (UBT) President Uddhav Thackeray on Tuesday, suggesting that the United Nations should declare Thackeray's birth date, July 27, as 'Traitors Day'.
Rane's comment was in response to Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut's appeal to the United Nations, requesting the declaration of June 20 as 'World Traitors Day'. Raut aimed to commemorate the day when 40 Shiv Sena legislators, including the current Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, rebelled against Uddhav Thackeray, resulting in a split within the Shiv Sena.
"Pls declare 27 July as "TRAITOR DAY". One of the biggest traitors ever seen or experienced was born on this day. He backstabbed his own father who was one of the greatest in the history of Maharashtra as well as India," BJP MLA Rane said in his tweet.
Furthermore, Rane leveled allegations against Thackeray, claiming that he betrayed his own religion and a trusted ally like the Bharatiya Janata Party in order to secure the position of Chief Minister in Maharashtra.
"He backstabbed his own religion n a close friend like the BJP for his own dirty ambitions to become the Chief Minister of Maharashtra. He has backstabbed Marathi Manus n earned crs of money thru corruption," Rane further said in his tweet.
"So I am appealing to declare 27th July as Traitors Day as one of the biggest traitor history has ever seen was born on this day. So the world remembers him and curses him every single day," he further added.
NCP protests on 'Traitor's Day'
On Tuesday, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leaders and workers across Mumbai and various parts of Maharashtra observed "gaddar din" (traitor's day) to commemorate the first anniversary of the rebellion by Shiv Sena legislators, including Chief Minister Eknath Shinde.
Under the leadership of NCP working president and Lok Sabha member Supriya Sule, party workers in Mumbai raised slogans and carried symbolic "khoke" (cartons) to symbolize their claim that the rebel legislators were bribed to attain power in the state.
In Mumbai, Sule and others gathered at the party office in south Mumbai to stage a protest, shouting slogans like "Pannas (50) Khoke, Ekdum Ok" to allege that each rebel legislator had accepted Rs 50 crore as a bribe.
In Thane, NCP leader and former minister Jitendra Awhad led a similar protest, where NCP workers piled up cartons with "Pannas Khoke, Ekdum Ok" stickers and later burned them as a symbol of protest.
In Nagpur, NCP workers staged a demonstration at Variety Square, chanting slogans such as "Khoke sarkar murdabad, gaddar aamdar murdabad" (Down with the bribe government, down with the traitorous legislators of Shinde-led Shiv Sena).
Last week, Maharashtra NCP president Jayant Patil urged party cadres to protest against the rebel Shiv Sena legislators. He called for symbolic displays of "khoke" (boxes of money) across the state, highlighting the basis on which the Eknath Shinde government came to power. Patil also encouraged NCP workers to inform the public that the temporary joy of the Shinde camp, recognised as the real Shiv Sena by the Election Commission, is diminishing, and their days in government are numbered.
Previously, the NCP organised public meetings to explain the Supreme Court's verdict on the political crisis in Maharashtra and emphasized how Speaker Rahul Narvekar is obliged to disqualify the 16 rebel MLAs. The Supreme Court ruling stated that then Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari was unjustified in asking former Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray to prove a majority in the Assembly on June 30, 2022. The constitutional bench also noted that it cannot reinstate the Thackeray government as he resigned without facing a floor test.
