Different yardsticks for PM’s Bajrang bali and Bal Thackeray’s Hindutva remarks: Uddhav

PTI, May 4, 2023, 3:23 PM IST

Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Uddhav Thackeray on Thursday said his father Bal Thackeray was disenfranchised for seeking votes in the name of religion, but PM Narendra Modi is using the “Jai Bajrang bali’ slogan to seek votes in Karnataka.

“May be election law provisions have changed now,” Uddhav told reporters here.

Modi on Wednesday urged the people of Karnataka to say ‘Jai Bajrang bali’ when they cast their vote to ”punish” the Congress, as BJP leaders stepped up attack on the opposition party over its election manifesto promise of banning the Bajrang Dal.

Bal Thackeray was banned from exercising his franchise in the late nineties for six years after he was found indulging in ”corrupt practice by seeking votes in the name of religion” at a public rally.

“If Modi is saying Jai Bajrang bali, then I am also appealing to Marathi-speaking people in Karnataka to chant Jai Bhavani Jai Shivaji and vote,” Uddhav said.