Mumbai: Accusing govt of undermining democracy and depriving even soldiers guarding the borders of their right to vote, Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray on Tuesday demanded a regime change.“Army soldiers are protecting the country there. So you are safe here, right? If those who are standing on the borders are being deprived of their voting rights, then what can we do if not change the regime? Yes, we are standing for regime change,” he said at the party’s annual Dussehra rally in Dadar’s Shivaji Park.Thackeray also launched a scathing attack on CM Devendra Fadnavis over the law and order situation in the state, challenging him to take gangster Lawrence Bishnoi, suspected to be behind a number of threats and attacks on those from the film industry in the city, to his “boss” in Delhi and then make tall claims about law and order.Pointing to the recent attack on actor Tiger Shroff, he asked how the attackers had managed to bring weapons into the area despite heavy police deployment during Navratri. “They should have been stopped the moment they arrived armed. But nobody seems to care,” he said. “A few days ago, the Maharashtra govt filed a claim in high court… That Maharashtra has become the centre of urban Naxalites. Tell me in which cities of Maharashtra there is Naxalism… Lawrence Bishnoi is sitting in Sabarmati jail and his goons say that we have 70,000 shooters.”Thackeray said the “confusion scam” was the biggest one BJP had perpetrated over the years, by misleading people with unrealistic promises. “This is a scam that ensnares a large number of people. During elections, they promise to give you a house on the moon. Who else makes such promises? They claim they are the ones who will deliver. You might think that getting a house on the moon is difficult. Others say it is impossible. But this person makes the promise with such confidence that you begin to think, ‘Let us give him a chance and see if he delivers’. They make people dream of things that are impossible to achieve. This is how they have been winning elections.”He said the party projects itself as ‘vishwaguru’ (world leader) while tarnishing the image of its opponents through corruption allegations and character assassination. “By the time the truth comes out, an entire lifetime has passed.”Thackeray alleged that the state govt was spending on political defections while offering inadequate financial assistance to farmers. “You spend Rs 50 crore to keep your chair and position secure but give only Rs 5,000 to the people whose hard work puts food on your table.”
