Uddhav Thackeray slams move by Calcutta HC judge to quit and join BJP in Bengal; takes jibe at Narwekar

Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar: Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray on Friday criticised the move of Abhijit Gangopadhyay to resign as judge of the Calcutta High Court and join the Bharatiya Janata Party and also took a swipe at Maharashtra Assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar while citing conflict of interest.

Gangopadhyay, who resigned as a judge on Tuesday, joined the BJP in West Bengal on Thursday claiming his "objective was to oust the corrupt Trinamool Congress regime in the state".

Addressing a rally in Kalamb in Dharashiv district, Thackeray said, "A judge resigned in West Bengal and joined the BJP to contest Lok Sabha polls. He gave judgements against the Trinamool Congress. Now how can we say he would have upheld the sacredness of his work (as judge)." "Similarly, the Maharashtra Assembly Speaker (Rahul Narwekar) was given the lure of a Lok Sabha seat (by BJP) and a decision against us was obtained from him (in MLA disqualification case)," Thackeray alleged.

A day after he asked Union minister and senior BJP leader Nitin Gadkari to join the Maha Vikas Aghadi and fight on an opposition ticket, Thackeray claimed the BJP was out to "finish the political life" of former state minister Pankaja Munde.

Slamming the BJP for claiming he was not the president of his party, Thackeray asked, if that was the case, then why was he invited to Varanasi and Gandhinagar when Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Minister Amit Shah filed their nominations for the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.

Speaking about semiconductor units being set up in Gujarat, Thackeray said he had nothing against the state or its people but its development should not be at the cost of others.

Criticising PM Modi's visit to Jammu and Kashmir, Thackeray said courage should be shown to go to strife-torn Manipur as well.