Mumbai:
How would Shiv Sena founder Bal Thackeray react to the current-day politics and Eknath Shinde’s Sena? Uddhav Thackeray’s faction of Shiv Sena has tried to answer that question, with an AI-generated voice of the Sena founder.
The audio clip, played at a Sena (UBT) gathering in Nashik yesterday, was also done with an eye to shoring up the party’s prospects after the assembly polls debacle.
The 13-minute speech attacked the BJP and the Shiv Sena faction under Mr Shinde. It started with Bal Thackeray’s trademark opening line “Jamlelya majhya tamam Hindu bandhavanu, baghinino ani matano” (greetings to my Hindu brothers, sisters and mothers who have gathered here).
But thereafter, the words resembled that of Uddhav Thackeray.
State BJP chief Chandrashekhar Bawankule called it a “childish stunt”.
In a post on X, he said: “Disgrace! When no one is listening to their voice, only a group like UBT could resort to the childish act of making their points heard in the voice of revered Shiv Sena chief Balasaheb Thackeray.”
Eknath Shinde, who split the Shiv Sena in 2022, said Mr Thackeray’s party has demeaned the late Sena patriarch. Nobody will stay with the Shiv Sena (UBT) because Uddhav Thackeray has “betrayed” his father’s ideals, Shinde told reporters.
“We freed the Shiv Sena from the clutches of the Congress. They (Uddhav Thackeray and his party) were not only dislodged from power, but also from the minds of people. If they have any shame left, they should not resort to such childish acts and demean Balasaheb. Do not behave in a way that will hurt Balasaheb,” he added.
