India, Jan. 13 -- As the BJP mounts an all-out bid to wrest control of the BMC - ruled by the undivided Shiv Sena for 25 years - it has levelled corruption charges against the Shiv Sena (UBT), one of the two factions formed after the party's 2022 split. Aaditya Thackeray, son of Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray, says, "Had there been even an iota of truth to the allegations, we would be sitting with the BJP as allies. Those who indulged in corruption have instead been rewarded with deputy chief ministerial and ministerial posts," says Aaditya, 35, who is leading the Sena (UBT)'s fight to retain the BMC. Aaditya spoke to Shailesh Gaikwad on various poll issues, including Bangladeshi immigrants, the Muslim vote, and the "way Mumbai is being broken" by the BJP. Excerpts from the interview: For the last four years, the BJP government prevented elections in 27 cities. There has been mismanagement, plunder and loot. Everyone is fed up with the collapse of civic order. People want things to return to normal. And, in Mumbai, "normal" has always meant "Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray". For 25 years, we have run the city administration well. We are advertising what we did and our manifesto says what we are going to do. Now the BJP, hilariously, says they will get Bangladeshi infiltrators out of Mumbai. Is chief minister Fadnavis admitting that PM Modi and Union home minister Amit Shah have failed to stop infiltrators? Has he forgotten he was state home minister for nearly ten years? Why should we counter a joke? The truth is, if there was even an iota of truth in the allegations against us, we would have been sitting with the BJP as their allies, occupying a respectable post. Everyone accused of corruption - just accused or actually corrupt - has been rewarded with deputy chief ministerial and ministerial posts. Because we are not guilty, we have not gone with them. Why doesn't the BJP speak about the PM Cares Fund, the road scam in Mumbai or the (tunnel contract) scam that the Supreme Court caught and exposed? The issue of Marathi manoos is most relevant today. It is not Marathi versus non-Marathi. It is the BJP versus Marathi manoos. During the BJP's three to four years in power, Marathi families have been denied homes by builders because apparently we eat non-vegetarian food as part of our culture. This ghettoisation, this crushing of our own community in the capital of Maharashtra is unfair. That is what our fight is about. Look at the way Mumbai is being crushed, Maharashtra's industries are forced to go to Gujarat. It is Mumbai's astitava (existence) we are concerned about. We had our solid reasons when handing out tickets or denying them. For instance, we denied a ticket to one of our workers who wanted to contest from a ward in Worli when we discovered he had a rape case against him. Now he's contesting as a rebel. There are also cases where we had to choose one from three to four equally able workers. Only a party that has a good chance of winning has more people wanting to contest. What's wrong with the Muslim community voting for us? What's wrong if Muslims or Christians or Jains or Sikhs or Buddhists in Mumbai want to vote for us? Is it only legal for the prime minister to go to churches and show that he is praying there when churches are being attacked by his fellow partymen? BJP leaders are guilty of doublespeak. It is BJP leaders who have been praying at the mausoleum of Jinnah and cutting the cake of Nawaz Sharif. But when we went with the Congress, they said we had left Hindutva. When the BJP went with the Congress in the Ambernath civic body, what did they leave? The BJP also aligned with its B-team, AIMIM, in Akot. The BJP is all about doublespeak. Our promises such as free bus rides, day-care centres of Rs.1,500 to maids are born of a measured and financially balanced policy. We didn't have a problem with the Ladki Bahin scheme per se but with the way the ruling parties misused it for the elections. Cash handouts will not affect the BMC's finances. In fact, for the last ten years, the BMC has been depositing a small sum in accounts of girl children, which they would get when they turn 18. Some things are non-negotiable. We have nothing personal against Mr Fadnavis. To us, he is the leader of the BJP, which is breaking our party and damaging the Constitution, damaging the social fabric of the country. He is finishing Maharashtra. In the legislature, where we make policies and laws, you need to work together because you are not enemies. However, what the BJP is doing outside the legislature is not tolerable. The corruption, the way Mumbai is being broken and being given to Adani and the way they are bullying their way forward come in the way of rapprochement....