Bal Thackeray Would Have Hugged PM Modi For Operation Sindoor: Amit Shah

Last Updated:May 26, 2025, 19:29 IST

“If Bal Thackeray would have been alive, he would have hugged PM Modi and have wholeheartedly supported the success of Operation Sindoor,” Amit Shah said.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah speaking at the BSF Investiture Ceremony. (Amit Shah)

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Monday hit out at Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT) over Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Raut’s likening the move of sending all-party delegation over Operation Sindoor across the world to a “baraat," saying that the party had mocked the decision even though their own members are a part of it.

While addressing an event in Maharashtra’s Nanded, the union minister paid tributes to late Shiv Sena (undivided) founder Balasaheb Thackeray and said that if he would have been alive, he would have hugged PM Modi and have wholeheartedly supported the success of Operation Sindoor.

“After Operation Sindoor, PM Modi decided that it is the nation’s matter. So, all-party delegation of MPs will visit different countries and unravel Pakistan’s face of terrorism. Then, all-party delegations were formed. Later, a top leader of Shiv Sena (UBT) commented on the delegation and said that ‘Yeh kiski baraat jaa rahi hai?’…Shiv Sena (UBT) used to be the party of Balasaheb Thackeray. Had Balasaheb Thackeray been alive, he would have hugged Modi. I don’t know what has happened to the Uddhav Sena. They are calling the delegations a baraat even though their own members are a part of it," he said as quoted by news agency ANI.

Further hailing the success of Operation Sindoor– India’s retaliatory attack on terror sites in Pakistan and PoK after the Pahalgam terror attack, Shah said that accomplishment of Indian forces has sent the message to not just Pakistan but also the world that no one can mess with India’s armed forces, its people and borders.

“Operation Sindoor has sent the message to not just Pakistan but also the world that no one can mess with our armed forces, people and borders. Else, the perpetrators will have to face consequences," Shah said.

Calling the Pahalgham attack by Pakistan-sponsored terrorists cowardly, he said Prime Minister Narendra Modi had said in Patna that the perpetrators would be tracked from wherever they are hiding.

“Pakistan forgot that 11 years ago, there was a Congress government, which has now changed. We responded to the Uri, Pulwana and Pahalgham strikes and struck terror bases," he added.

Shah also mentioned the recent heinous attack on innocent civilians in Jammu and Kashmir, allegedly sponsered by Pakistan, where terrorists brutally killed people in front of their families.

“Modiji has declared that there would be retaliation if the blood of innocent Indian civilians is shed. If our women’s sindoor is harmed, the response will be bloodier," he said, adding that Operation Sindoor proved the government’s commitment to protecting India’s borders.

What Sanjay Raut Had Said?

Last week, Raut had questioned the need to send parliamentarians abroad to brief other countries about Operation Sindoor and India’s military escalation with Pakistan.

“There was no need to send this baraat. The Prime Minister is weak. There was no need to rush this. What will the son of the Deputy CM (MP Shrikant Shinde, son of Eknath Shinde) represent abroad?" Raut had asked, adding, “The BJP has politicised this; they have a habit of doing politics in everything. The India bloc should boycott this baraat."

Over 50 lawmakers including MPs from various parties and former Union Ministers, are representing India in cities across Europe, the US, and the Gulf. The outreach, aimed at building diplomatic pressure on Pakistan, includes notable names such as Congress’s Shashi Tharoor, NCP (SP)’s Supriya Sule, Shiv Sena (UBT)’s Priyanka Chaturvedi, AIMIM’s Asaduddin Owaisi, and DMK’s Kanimozhi.

Nanded, India, India

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