Mumbai, Feb 6 (PTI) Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray on Thursday accused the BJP of strangling institutions in the country and Maharashtra.

Speaking at an event of the Railway Kamgar Sena, the railway union of the party, Thackeray said he has neither abandoned the saffron flag (bhagwa) nor its ideals.

"Just because we are patient does not mean we are timid," Thackeray said.

"Earlier there was a separate budget for the railways and the railway portfolio had some importance but after this government came to power, every institution is being strangled," Thackeray said.

He said the BJP government at the Centre merged the railway budget into the main budget.

He said bodies like the Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) and BEST etc are being strangled.

MSRTC is facing losses and there is no one to take care of BEST, Thackeray claimed.

Thackeray said the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) is being made a pauper.

The BMC's fixed deposits were to the tune of Rs 92,000 crore, which has come down to Rs 80,000 crore under the previous Eknath Shinde government and the current Devendra Fadnavis dispensation.

The BMC's dues, meanwhile, have risen to Rs 2.5 lakh crore, Thackeray pointed out.

When will the railways install a statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus, he asked. PTI PR BNM