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The people’s newsroom

PoliticsOpposition

Uddhav Thackeray backs Prashant Bhushan's 'regime change' call, says 'we are here to change the government'

The Shiv Sena (UBT) chief told a Marathi journalists' meet in Mumbai that a government that takes away the right to vote and protest should be thrown out.

From the editorial desk · MumbaiPublished
Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray (file photo)
Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray (file photo)Photos: Webman25 / Wikimedia Commons; Sidheeq / Wikimedia Commons, Public domain, CC BY-SA 4.0

Key points

  1. Uddhav Thackeray endorsed senior advocate Prashant Bhushan's call for 'regime change'.
  2. He accused police of beating young people and women during the Delhi protests.
  3. Bhushan's remark, made alongside CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke on Thursday, had drawn sharp BJP criticism.

Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray on Saturday threw his weight behind senior advocate Prashant Bhushan’s call for “regime change”, saying a government that strips people of the right to vote and to protest deserves to be removed.

“Such a government should be uprooted from power,” Thackeray told the Akhil Bharatiya Marathi Patrakar Parishad in Mumbai. “We are here to bring about a change of power.”

He accused the police of mistreating protesters in Delhi during the demonstrations led by the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) and other groups against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. “The police are beating young people and women and tearing their clothes,” he said.

Taking a jab at the lathi charges, Thackeray asked whether thousands of police personnel had been posted in the capital during Navratri to “play dandiya”. He also referred to reports of cockroach effigies being burnt at Dussehra, saying those who claim to bring Ram were afraid of cockroaches.

Bhushan had made his remark on Thursday at an event with CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke, saying that voicing dissatisfaction with a government was no crime in a democracy and that the struggle was now really about regime change. The BJP and other ruling alliance parties reacted sharply.

Bhushan later said the government was accusing the opposition of wanting regime change while the immediate fight was to make sure elections were held properly. “But if this kind of brutality continues, then there will certainly be a regime change,” he said.

Dipke was released on a peace bond on Saturday afternoon after a day in police custody.