This Article is From Jan 23, 2015

Why Four or Five? One Child Like a Tiger is Enough, Says Uddhav Thackeray

Why Four or Five? One Child Like a Tiger is Enough, Says Uddhav Thackeray

Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray has expressed disagreement with comments made by certain BJP leaders asking Hindu women to have more children.

Mumbai: Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray has countered comments made by some BJP leaders asking Hindu women to have more children, saying once child like a tiger would be enough. Speaking at an event held to commemorate the birth anniversary of his father and party founder Bal Thackeray, he also used the platform to make a case for the the relevance of the Shiv Sena in Maharashtra's political scape.

Mr Thackeray expressed disagreement with comments made by some BJP lawmakers, such as Sakshi Maharaj, who had asked Hindu women to have more children and give one to the sadhus and another to the armed forces.

"The existence of Hindus is not related just with numbers or population increase. Who will feed 10 children of a Hindu man?" asked Mr Thackeray. "Why do we have to reproduce like sheep? One child like a tiger is enough," he added.

He also raised other issues that could be of possible embarrassment to the BJP, which is the Shiv Sena's ally in the Central and Maharashtra governments. Talking of the Kashmir issue, Mr Thackeray raised questions over why the BJP is yet to revoke Article 370 of the Constitution, in spite of winning a large nuber of seats in Parliament. He also reminded his ally about the poll promise of the "ghar wapsi of Kashmiri Pandits", who had fled the Kashmir Valley at the height of the insurgency in the late 1980s.

The jibes from the Shiv Sena chief come at a time when the BJP is attempting to be part of the alliance that would form the new government in in Jammu and Kashmir.

Mr Thackeray's comments underline the latent friction between the two allies, which had broken off a 25-year-old coalition just before the Assembly elections in Maharashtra last year. However, they had come together again after the election, in which the BJP emerged the largest party but failed to get a clear majority, with the BJP taking over the role of the senior partner in the alliance.

He also used the platform to make a case for the relevance of his party in Maharashtra's political scape. "Maharashtra needs Shiv Sena. Maharashtra will be unstable if Shiv Sena is not there. We (Shiv sainiks) are not logs that sail with the waves," he insisted.

He also said that the Sena will not bow before anyone for a memorial for Bal Thackeray.

Meanwhile, Mr Thackeray's son and Yuva Sena chief Aditya Thackeray, in a tweet, hit out at a project of the Union Power Ministry to save electricity by installing white LED lamps, saying the decision to change the previously used yellow lamps was made without the permission of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC).

He tweeted:

.