Mumbai: Shiv Sena chief leader and Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Saturday accused the Shiv Sena UBT chief Uddhav Thackeray of “looting the treasury” of Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) during the 25-year rule, while the MahaYuti is committed to push the city’s development and make Mumbaikars’ lives safe and secure.

He slammed Uddhav Thackeray for raising the issue of Mumbai being split from Maharashtra when the election comes, saying that Mumbai was, is and will remain with Maharashtra.

Shinde termed Uddhav Thackeray “corruption Samrat”, saying that his policy was “where there is a tender, there is a surrender.”

Speaking at the launch of the joint campaign for the Mahayuti, Shinde accused Uddhav Thackeray of treating Mumbai as a personal fiefdom for 25 years while neglecting basic infrastructure.

He claimed that the BMC under "Thackeray’s Sena" was a "gold mine for contractors" rather than a service for Mumbaikars.

Shinde mocked Uddhav’s leadership style, contrasting his own "field-based" governance with what he described as Uddhav’s "Facebook Live" and "home-bound" administration during his tenure as Chief Minister.

He stated today that for the Thackeray faction, Mumbai was like a "hen that lays golden eggs" - implying they viewed the city as a source of wealth rather than a responsibility.

Shinde characterised the pact between Uddhav Thackeray and Raj Thackeray as a marriage of convenience rather than conviction.

He suggested that those who spent two decades criticising each other have only come together because they are "losing ground" to the Mahayuti's development agenda.

While the Thackeray cousins are campaigning on the "Marathi Manoos" and "Marathi Pride" plank, Shinde argued that true pride lies in the actual development of Mumbai. He mocked the alliance as an attempt to "save their own existence" rather than the interests of the citizens. weakness.

He argued that Uddhav Thackeray, who previously "betrayed" his father Balasaheb Thackeray's Hindutva ideology by joining the Congress-led MVA, is now turning to Raj Thackeray only because he is "losing ground" in Mumbai.

Responding to Uddhav Thackeray’s move to term Shinde with “Suryaji Pisal" (a historical figure associated with betrayal), Shinde countered today by claiming the public knows who truly "betrayed" Balasaheb Thackeray's Hindutva ideology by joining hands with the Congress earlier.

Shinde alleged that during the Thackeray family's decades of control over the BMC, the Marathi population was actually "pushed out" of Mumbai to suburbs like Ambernath and Kalyan because they could not afford housing.

He also claimed that the triple-engine government will become a lifeline for Mumbai. He exhorted the cadres of Mahayuti to work unitedly for the victory in the BMC elections, as the rival is crooked and vindictive.

Shinde sent a direct message that Mahayuti intends to capture the Thackeray family’s last remaining strongholds in Mumbai.

He stated that the era of emotional politics is over, now only the politics of performance will prevail, adding that the Marathi Manoos will become the Mumbai Mayor.