The BJP on Monday rushed to slam Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray, stung by his remark that the “Shiv Sena had wasted 25 years in alliance with the BJP” and that the party used Hindutva for political convenience and power.
Former chief minister Devendra Fadnavis took the lead in accusing Uddhav of insulting his late father and Sena founder Bal Thackeray by questioning his decision to align with the BJP.
Uddhav, the current Shiv Sena boss who heads the Maha Vikas Aghadi (Sena-NCP-Cong alliance) government in Maharashtra, had made the remarks on Sunday while addressing his party men on the birth anniversary of late Bal Thackeray.
“I still believe the Shiv Sena wasted 25 years in alliance with the BJP,” Uddhav had reportedly said in a video address to his party men.
“We supported them (BJP) wholeheartedly to take forward the agenda of Hindutva. But their Hindutva is hollow and a charade to grab power,” he added, accusing the BJP of trying all tricks to finish off the Sena.
Uddhav referred to the BJP’s tie-up with Mehbooba Mufti-led PDP and JDU’s Nitish Kumar to justify his charge.
Hitting out at Uddhav, Fadnavis said: “It was late Bal Thackeray who decided on the Shiv Sena-BJP alliance. All those questioning this decision and expressing regret for the alliance are insulting Bal Thackeray’s decision.”
Fadnavis also took a dig at the Shiv Sena for getting relegated to the fourth position in the local body polls. “In the local body polls, the Shiv Sena emerges fourth. When they were with us, they used to be second-largest party,” Fadnavis said, asking Uddhav to analyse the reasons for his party’s poor show rather than venting frustration on the BJP.
Insiders said the BJP had been relentlessly pursuing efforts to drive a wedge in the MVA alliance and trying to get their former ally to return.
Uddhav appears to have shut the door on the possibility of realignment.
In his address, Uddhav had even referred to Amit Shah’s challenge to the Sena to go it alone and test its strength.
“Amit Shah said fight alone. We are ready to go alone,” he had said, urging party workers not to get disheartened by setbacks and focus on national expansion.
Uddhav had also accused the BJP of betraying the Sena. “The understanding was that they will go national while we will lead in Maharashtra. But we were betrayed and attempts were made to destroy us in our home,” he said on Sunday.
The war of words drew in Sena spokesperson and MP Sanjay Raut as well. “We took the BJP from the bottom to the top in Maharashtra,” Raut said, claiming there was a Shiv Sena wave in north India after the demolition of Babri Masjid but they left it to the BJP to reap the electoral benefits and gain power at the Centre.
“I want to remind them (Sena) that their party was not even born when the BJP already had a corporator in Mumbai,” Fadnavis said.
He claimed that the role of Sena members in the Ram temple agitation was limited to speeches while the BJP members took the “bullets and batons”.
