I never advocated nepotism: Bal Thackeray

Mumbai, Jul 27: Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray today said he never advocated "nepotism" in the party and would never prefer it.

Speaking after the inauguration of the five-storied refurbished Sena Bhavan at Dadar in Central Mumbai, he said, ''Uddhav was elected as the Executive President by you people (Sainiks) in my absece in 2002 at the party's conclave at Mahabaleshwar and when I was told about the same, I asked the Sainiks whether they agreed with this decision or not. To which, everybody had nodded.'' ''Uddhav will also have to run the party on my lines,'' admonished the octogenarian leader to his 46-year-old son, whose birthday was today incidentally.

Recalling the good old days and the contribution of his colleagues in the formation of the Sena, he said late Dattaji Salvi, Wamanrao Mahadik, Sharad Acharya were his old colleagues, apart from Manohar Joshi, Sudhir Joshi and Pramod Navalkar, who well also present on the occasion along with thousands of shiv sainiks.

Mr Thackeray delivered his 20 minutes address sitting on a chair, saying his health was not permitting him to take more stress.

Referring to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Gopinath Munde, who was also present on the occasion, Mr Thackeray said his party entered into alliance with the BJP to foster unity among the Hindus and the Hindutava.

Recalling his earlier call, which he had given in 1966 for introducing a permit system for migrants entering Mumbai, he said it was opposed by the Communists. However, such system does exist in Russia.

He said all the Bangladeshi Muslims should be thrown out of the country.

Recalling how bricks were collected in the name of Ram Mandir by organisations like Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and 'rath yatras' were taken out by the BJP, the leader said if the Sainiks had demolished the Babri Masjid, then he was "proud" of them.

Speaking about the July 11 blasts in Mumbai's suburban trains, Mr Thackeray wondered there was no evidence against the suspected terrorists, even after so many days.

Earlier, he garlanded Maratha warrior Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj statue.

Mr Joshi, addressing the audience, said the Sena Bhavan was inaugurated on June 19, 1977.

Recalling the bomb blasts near Sena Bhavan in 1993, he said such terror tactics should be wiped out, while Mr Munde said the 20-year-old BJP-Sena alliance would continue for a long period.

UNI