Maharashtra Navnirman Sena President Raj Thackeray on Sunday urged political parties to unite to create a “Modi-mukt” [Modi-free] India, ANI reported. Thackeray was speaking at a rally in Mumbai’s Shivaji Park.

“India got its first independence in 1947, second in 1977 [after the post-Emergency elections], and 2019 can bring a third independence if India becomes ‘Modi-mukt’,” PTI quoted him as saying. “Today, we have to gear up for the third independence.”

The Maharashtra leader accused the Bharatiya Janata Party of attempting to trigger communal unrest with the Ayodhya temple case. “I suspect there is a larger design being worked to trigger Hindu and Muslim riots on the Ram temple agenda,” Thackeray said, according to The Indian Express. “They [the Centre] has started the process by bringing the temple agenda to the centre stage and in the Supreme Court.”

He likened the current situation to an Emergency and said that there was an attempt to silence the voice of media and judiciary. The Maharashtra Navnirman Sena leader alleged there was corruption in the Centre’s Rafale aircraft deal and claimed that there was a commission of almost Rs 600 crore to Rs 700 crore on each aircraft.

“Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman expressed ignorance about the French manufacturing company’s domestic partner. Whereas it is fact that when the agreement was signed with India and France, Anil Ambani was present,” he claimed.

Thackeray said that the bullet train project that will connect Mumbai to Ahmedabad, was a ploy to divide Mumbai from Maharashtra, News18 reported.