Fadnavis hits back at Uddhav over Mogambo jibe, says he has vocabulary of 20 words

Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Tuesday hit out at Uddhav Thackeray over his "Mogambo" remark about Amit Shah, saying the former Maharashtra CM has a "dictionary of 20 words" which he keeps using.

As to Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut's allegation that a Rs 2,000 crore deal was struck to `purchase' the Shiv Sena name and poll symbol, the BJP leader said he did not see the need to respond to "brainless" people.

Thackeray, reacting to Union home minister Shah's statement welcoming the Election Commission's decision to recognise the faction led by Eknath Shinde as the real Shiv Sena, had used the famous line of the villain of the Bollywood film Mr India, "Mogambo khush hua." Asked by reporters about the jibe, Fadnavis said there are ups and downs in politics, but people pity the intellect of those who say anything out of frustration. "What he says does not make any difference," the BJP leader added.

On Raut's allegation about a `deal' being struck for getting the Sena name and symbol, Fadnavis said, "Why should I reply to "brainless" people?" "As far as Uddhav-ji is concerned, he has a limited dictionary of some 20 words and he keeps using these words repeatedly. Is there any need to reply?" he asked.

About former Maharashtra governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari's claim that he did not approve the names recommended by the previous Thackeray-led government for nomination to the Legislative Council as the language in the letter was "threatening ", Fadnavis said he had only seen a part of Koshyari's interview, but whatever the former governor said was right.

"As per my information, when the leaders from all three parties (Shiv Sena, Congress, NCP) later went to meet the governor, he told them that he would not act on such a threatening letter. He advised them to send a letter in the proper format. They also had ego, so they said they would not change it," he said.