Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray on Friday addressed party workers at a gathering in Mumbai focused on the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process and launched a sharp attack on political defections, electoral practices, and welfare schemes.
Speaking at the event, Thackeray alleged that democratic institutions were being undermined through electoral manipulation and political poaching. Referring to the SIR exercise, he claimed that nearly 2.7 million votes linked to West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had been removed. He also alleged that similar tactics had been used against former Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.
“I do not care which party is in power, but what matters is what those in power are doing. Today one government may be doing this, tomorrow another government may follow the same path. The question is: what kind of precedent are we setting?” Thackeray asked.
The MNS chief also criticized the state’s “Ladki Bahin” scheme, arguing that governments should focus on long-term women’s empowerment rather than direct cash transfers.
“When the scheme was introduced, I had said that the government should spend more on empowering women instead of distributing monthly cash benefits. Once freebies become a norm, neither a state nor a country can function sustainably,” he said.
Thackeray further argued that governments recover such expenditures through other means. “They give you one rupee and take back ten or even a hundred rupees from you. People must start looking at this calculation carefully,” he remarked.
Expressing concern over political instability, Thackeray said the focus of political parties had shifted from governance to engineering defections.
“There is a possibility of drought-like conditions because rainfall has been inadequate. Yet what occupies our attention is poaching MPs, MLAs, and corporators. Voters must think about this. They stand in queues to vote, and then the elected representatives switch sides. What message will we leave for the next generation? That we sold ourselves?” he said.
Quoting an old saying, Thackeray added, “When self-respect dies, what remains is a living corpse.”
The MNS chief also raised concerns over the increasing number of suicides across the country. Citing figures, he claimed that Maharashtra recorded the highest number of suicides at 22,174, followed by other states including Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat.
He further criticized recurring irregularities in competitive examinations, referring to paper leak controversies involving the NEET examination. “I had opposed NEET when it was introduced, and today we continue to witness paper leak incidents,” he said.
Thackeray also expressed concern over incidents involving the abduction of children and what he described as political attempts to lure elected representatives from rival parties.
“Children are being kidnapped, MPs are being poached, and despite all this, the sole focus remains retaining power through money and influence. Today one party may be doing it; tomorrow another party will do the same,” he said.
Reflecting on recent political developments, Thackeray remarked that although his party did not win MPs in the last election, he was relieved in one sense because he believes the tradition of self-respect and political integrity in Maharashtra is being compromised.
“The tradition of Maharashtra and the nation’s self-respect is being put up for sale. That is the real concern,” he said.
