"For the last two years, critics have been writing against me. But the municipal polls have come as a slap on the face of those who were finding me unfit," Uddhav, on a tour of the Konkan region since Thursday, told a Shiv Sena workers' convention in Ratnagiri on Friday afternoon.
"I may be soft-spoken but I have the heart of a Shiv Sainik. I have kept my saffron flag near my heart. We don't want to mix any other colour with it," he said.
Uddhav earlier addressed a rally in Vengurla, where he began campaigning for the ensuing zilla parishad and panchayat samiti polls in Maharashtra.
Talking on issues related to the Konkan region, Uddhav reiterated his opposition to polluting industries like mining and the thermal power plant planned to be set up in the area.
"Workers (Sainiks) should highlight such issues," he said, remarking that the Britishers were "far better than the Congress rulers."
