Thackeray takes aim, blames rout on feelgood, Ram

‘‘The BJP was flying high on the feelgood factor. The word ‘feelgood’ sounds really good but no one felt good,’’ said Thackeray. Clad in his typical saffron-coloured silk attire, Thackeray sat on a chair done up in garish leopard skin upholstery and took potshots. ‘‘Jaswant Singh and that former journalist Arun Shourie are responsible for what happened to the NDA. This disinvestment ministry should be scrapped.’’

‘‘The BJP needs to introspect on the reasons for their defeat. They were intoxicated after the victories in the Assembly polls in three states and took a gamble by declaring early polls. Jab election aaya to Ram ka naam liya aur rath yatra nikala. (As elections approached, they brought out the Rath and began chanting ‘Ram’). You cannot fool people,’’ he said.

For a man who had declared that his party would launch a sustained protest if Congress president Sonia Gandhi was made the PM, he shied away from replying to a pointed query on the subject.

‘‘What protest,” he said laughing and shrugging his shoulders. Unable to resist a dig at Sonia, the Sena chief stated that the Congress president could not hold a candle to Indira Gandhi. ‘‘There is no comparison. Indira Gandhi was much better,’’ said this former Congress supporter.

It was the Congress that gave the Sena some legitimacy in 1967, by seeking its help to defeat Krishna Menon. After Emergency, Sena had even formally professed its loyalty to the Congress. For reasons best known to Thackeray, he also criticised NDA convenor George Fernandes. ‘‘I know him since his black-hair days; we have been friends too. But who is George Fernandes, why was he given such undue importance? If he was so intelligent why not make him the PM?’’ he said.

For a man whose party’s USP has always been religious, regional and caste segregation, Thackeray’s parting remarks — ‘‘earlier, we used to cast our votes, now we vote for castes’’ — too seemed out of place.