NEW DELHI: Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray on Tuesday called for a regime change, accused the government of undermining electoral rights. He backed the youth protests, calling them revolutionaries meanwhile asserting his party’s claim to the saffron identity at the party’s annual Dussehra rally at Shivaji Park in Mumbai.According to PTI, Thackeray said young people had the right to protest against alleged electoral irregularities, particularly those affecting new voters. He also called for a change in the political establishment and asserted that the saffron identity could not be taken away from his party.“Protest is the right of youth because ‘vote chori’ is happening with everyone, especially new voters,” Thackeray said.“We are standing up to bring about a ‘regime change’,” the former Maharashtra chief minister said at the rally."Youth who have hit the streets are not Naxalites, they are revolutionaries seeking their rights," Uddhav Thackeray said.Reiterating his party’s claim to the saffron identity, Thackeray said, “Bhagwa (saffron) is our identity; no one can steal our identity.”
He also called for the saffron flag to be unfurled at both the state and national levels. “We have to unfurl Bhagwa (saffron flag) not only atop Maharashtra Vidhan Sabha but also on Lal Qila,” Thackeray said.
Uddhav Thackeray was addressing his supporters at Shivaji Park which has been more than a rally ground for SHiv Sena. It is where Bal Thackeray launched the party’s public political journey in 1966, and where Uddhav Thackeray continues to invoke that legacy amid the battle over the party’s identity.
Aryan Singh is a journalist with The Times of India, covering breaking news, defence and global conflicts. An alumnus of the IIMC, he tracks the people, weapons and geopolitics behind the headlines, with a focus on India’s national security, military affairs and conflicts shaping the world.