NEW DELHI: Shiv Sena MP Milinda Deora on Sunday said that he welcomes that Congress has finally acknowledged Balasaheb Thackeray 's legacy. "I welcome Congress finally acknowledging Balasaheb Thackeray's legacy after 12 years. In 2012, as a Union Minister from Mumbai, I had proposed that the UPA declare a day of national mourning for Balasaheb.
While then PM Dr. Manmohan Singh seemed supportive, the idea was blocked by certain elements within the alliance," said the candidate from Worli Assembly seat. Earlier, Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra mentioned Bal Thackeray while campaigning for the Maharashtra assembly polls , saying that the Shiv Sena founder wouldn't have tolerated Shivaji Maharaj's insult.
The AICC general secretary's rare reference to Thackeray, whose aggressive Hindutva was rejected by previous Congress generational leaders, comes at a time when PM Narendra Modi has dared the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT) to ensure Rahul Gandhi speaks a few words of praise for Bal Thackeray and V D Savarkar. "Modi always takes the name of Shiv Sena founder Bal Thackeray. Yes, our ideologies (Congress's and Shiv Sena's) were different.
..Yes, our political thinking was different.
.. But neither Balasaheb Thackeray nor any leader from the Congress and Rahul ji (Gandhi) would tolerate Shivaji Maharaj's insult," Priyanka said while addressing poll rallies in Shirdi and Kolhapur.
She accused Mahayuti leaders of insulting Shivaji Maharaj, mentioning the collapse of his stat.