Mumbai | Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Tuesday launched a scathing attack on Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray, likening him to an anaconda with an insatiable hunger that has coiled itself around Mumbai's treasury.

Shinde's remark came a day after Thackeray dubbed Union Home Minister Amit Shah an anaconda who wants to swallow Mumbai.

Talking to reporters, the deputy chief minister said, "Those who dub (others) an anaconda are anacondas themselves who have coiled themselves around Mumbai's treasury. The peculiarity of this anaconda is that its stomach is never full." "They have swallowed Mumbai, its treasury, many plots, even the 'khichdi' for patients (during the COVID-19 pandemic). They indulged in corruption in body bags, and even in the silt of the Mithi River. The hunger of this anaconda is insatiable," he said, referring to the alleged scams the Opposition party is accused of being involved in.

The Uddhav Thackeray-led undivided Shiv Sena controlled the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) for 25 years from 1997 to 2022.

Thackeray's statement on Shah on Monday invited sharp criticism from the BJP, with Minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule saying that Thackeray is depressed due to his drubbing in the state assembly polls.

"Uddhav ji should see himself in the mirror because he is a python who lies idle and hisses at the hard work done by others," Bawankule said.