Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray asked whether Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis' call for a "dharma-yudh of votes" does not violates the Model Code of Conduct set by the Election Commission of India.
Speaking at a campaign rally in Dombivli ahead of the Assembly polls, Thackeray revealed that he was asked to remove the words "Jai Bhavani, Jai Shivaji" from his party's election anthem before the Lok Sabha elections, but he refused to comply.
"Devendra Fadnavis has given a call for "dharma-yudh of votes. I am asking the Election Commission, does dharma-yudh fit in with your Model Code of Conduct?" the former chief minister said.
At a rally in Pune on Friday, Fadnavis, in response to a supposed appeal by an Islamic scholar for a "vote-Jihad" against the Mahayuti government, had called for a "dharma-yudh of votes" to counter it. Meanwhile, Thackeray criticized the BJP, stating that the party today is a "hybrid" made up of opportunistic leaders brought in from outside.
"The BJP that grew due to the sacrifices of its workers who dedicated their lives to the organisation has now become a hybrid, a breeding ground for opportunistic politics," he said.
Thackeray, a former BJP ally who parted ways in 2019, stated that the vision of late party stalwarts such as Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Pramod Mahajan, and Gopinath Munde has been undermined by the current leadership.