As the stalemate in Maharashtra continues with no likelihood of a solution in the immediate future, Shiv Sena has now pinned the blame for its precarious situation on its erstwhile alliance partner BJP.
As if the regular doses of Urdu Shayaris from Sanjay Raut’s Twitter handle were not enough, the Sena has now gone ahead and compared their former allies with the Muslim invader Muhammad Ghori.
Shiv Sena mouthpiece Saamana said that BJP has been ‘ungrateful’ to the Shiv Sena’s contribution to the NDA and ‘backstabbed’ it just like Ghori who incarcerated Prithviraj Chauhan in the 18th battle despite being a recipient of his generosity for the first 17 battles.
The Saamana editorial slammed BJP for ‘removing’ it from the NDA on the death anniversary of Balasaheb Thackeray, who according to the editorial was one of the earliest proponents of the NDA and a pioneer of Hindutva movement. “It was Balasaheb Thackeray who extended his support to the NDA. He talked about Hindutva and Nationalism at a time when some of those running the NDA alliance were not even born,” the editorial said.
Ironically, the Saamnaa editorial did not mention that it was the Shiv Sena, who had made its lone minister Arvind Sawant resign from the union cabinet ahead of its plans to hold talks with Congress and NCP over government formation in Maharashtra.
The article further rebuked the BJP for ‘removing’ the Shiv Sena from NDA without giving them a hearing or calling out a meeting with the NDA parties to discuss their removal. The editorial said that this ‘dictatorial act’ by the BJP is against the democratic ethos of the country. The editorial says that the BJP ousted Shiv Sena unilaterally on the allegations of it getting into talks with the ideological rivals Congress and the NCP.
However, taking a swipe at the BJP, the article questioned BJP’s decision of joining hands with Mehbooba Mufti’s PDP party in Jammu and Kashmir and aligning in Bihar with Nitesh Kumar, who had had publicly criticised PM Modi.
“We were backstabbed by the BJP in Maharashtra. The founder of the Shiv Sena party, Balasaheb Thackeray, who resolutely stood with the BJP when no else was ready to, has been betrayed by them. We are not even given a show-cause notice before being ousted from the NDA,” the article said.
Things between the two former alliance partner turned sour in the aftermath of the Maharashtra Assembly election results when the Shiv Sena demanded a rotational chief minister position from the BJP.
The BJP denied it saying no such agreement was decided before the elections. This led to the Shiv Sena breaking apart from the BJP and foraging for support from ideological rivals NCP and Congress to install a Shiv Sena chief minister in the state. However, they are stuck in limbo as the NCP chief Sharad Pawar continues to prolong the impasse by holding his cards close to his chest.
