India moving towards autocracy: Thackeray as he appeals people to throw BJP

Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray, at the INDIA bloc rally here on Sunday, claimed the country was moving towards becoming an "autocracy" as he appealed to people of the country to throw the BJP out of power.

Addressing the INDIA bloc's rally at the Ramlila Maidan here, he hit out at the BJP and said, "We are not here for an election campaign, we are here to save democracy... you level allegations and send people to jail. What kind of government is this?" he said.

"When two of our sisters are fighting, how can the brother stay behind? So we are here for our sisters, Kalpana ji and Sunita ji. Not just us, the whole country is with you," Thackeray said, referring to former Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren's wife Kalpana Soren and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's wife Sunita Kejriwal.

Both Arvind Kejriwal and Hemant Soren have been arrested by federal agencies in different cases of corruption.

"Some time ago, we had this doubt that our nation is moving towards an autocracy... It's not a doubt anymore, it is a reality... If the BJP government thinks that people will get scared by arresting Hemant ji and Arvind ji, they don't know Indians. We are not people who get scared, we fight," Thackeray said.

The former Maharashtra chief minister accused the BJP of misusing the ED, CBI and Income Tax Department, and said they should declare that the three agencies are their allies.

"They are dreaming of crossing 400 seats. I want to appeal to the whole nation that the government of one party has become dangerous for the country. This will not work anymore. We want a strong nation, we will have to bring in a coalition government. One that respects all states," he said.

Thackeray also appealed to all farmers to throw the BJP out of power.

"They (BJP) did not allow farmers to come to Delhi. They put nails on the roads and used tear gas... The government calls farmers terrorists and stops them from coming to Delhi... The farmers of the country will have to stop them (BJP) from coming to Delhi again," he added.