Amit Shah flays Sena, says Uddhav abandoned Balasaheb Thackeray’s principles

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Pune: Starting an early countdown for the 2022 Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections, Union Home Minister Amit Shah launched a full broadside against Shiv Sena president and Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray accusing the Sena president of sacrificing late Sena founder Balasaheb Thackeray’s principles for the lust of power.

Criticising Thackeray’s tripartite Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government of the Sena, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and Congress, the senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) sarcastically termed the MVA government as “a three-wheeler autorickshaw” trundling aimlessly in three different directions. 

He once again clarified that the BJP had made no ‘closed door’ promises to the Sena of offering the latter the Chief Minister’s post following the 2019 Maharashtra Assembly election. 

Also Read: Union home minister Amit Shah calls Maha govt a 3-wheeler govt

“Uddhav Thackeray and the Shiv Sena have dumped the principles of Balasaheb in the river by forming an unnatural alliance with the Congress and the NCP in Maharashtra…They (Sena) keep saying that we (BJP) have broken promises that we had allegedly given behind closed doors. I would like to emphatically say that I have never indulged in ‘closed-door’ politics. I believe in transparency and making all promises on a public forum,” remarked Shah.

Shah was in Sindhudurg district in Konkan region on Sunday to inaugurate a medical college set-up by former Chief Minister and BJP Rajya Sabha MP Narayan Rane – a bitter critic and arch rival of Chief Minister Thackeray. 

There is another significance attached to the event. The Konkan region happens to the Sena stronghold and its voter base in Mumbai have their native places back in the Konkan region. Political developments back home in their native place tend to have its impact on voting in elections in Mumbai.

“During the 2019 Assembly poll campaign, Uddhav Thackeray had sought votes with Narendra Modi’s larger photo on the Sena’s banner. Both the BJP and the Sena had campaigned with a view to re-elect Devendra Fadnavis…At that time, the Sena did not complain. I repeat, there was no such promise (Chief Minister’s post) given to the Sena,” Shah said, adding that the people of Maharashtra would never forgive Uddhav Thackeray for his crafty politics for the sake of power. 

Shah further said that the Sena had betrayed a ‘pure’ electoral mandate handed by the people of Maharashtra only to forge an opportunistic alliance with the ideologically opposed Congress, NCP. 

“The BJP could have swept the 2019 Maharashtra Assembly polls had it contested on its own strength and employed the Sena’s back stabbing tactics…the Sena by then would have been finished in the State,” the Home Minister said. 

Refuting the Sena’s often repeated allegation that it was the BJP that had broken pre-electoral promises, Shah pointed out that in Bihar, in spite of the BJP scoring more seats than Nitish Kumar’s Janata Dal (United, JD-U), the saffron party had kept its word. 

“Even though Nitish Kumar admitted that the BJP could stake claim to the Chief Ministership owing to our larger numbers, we kept our word and anointed him as CM as promised…it is regrettable in Maharashtra that the Sena’s lust for power caused it to betray us,” Shah said.

Showering praise on Rane, Shah said “I see him (Rane) as someone who speaks out against injustice without thinking of the consequences. Perhaps, it is because of this that his political career has been so full of twists and turns. However, there will be no injustice against him in the BJP. We know how to take care and give respect to Rane.”  

Rane had formally joined the BJP and merged his Maharashtra Swabhiman Paksha (MSP) party in October last year ahead of the Assembly polls. 

In September 2017, Rane had quit the Congress which he had joined following his acrimonious exit from the Sena. His exit from the Congress was no less acrimonious. The BJP which has weak political presence in the Konkan belt welcomed him with open arms.  

Ever since his entry into the BJP, the Konkan strongman has repeatedly targeted his former party the Sena, launching vitriolic attacks on Sena President Uddhav Thackeray.  

Earlier, Shah lauded the country’s medical fraternity and paramedics in the battle against Covid-19. He added that India has been successful in containing the virus because people had participated wholeheartedly in the struggle along with frontline warriors, doctors and State governments.  

“The Modi Government has fought the battle against Covid-19 in a unique way. We implemented the lockdown on time. While we did not have the requisite infrastructure when the pandemic erupted, we shored it up in a record six months…Today, we have 2200 testing laboratories across the country and India is a major exporter of vaccines, masks, PPE kits. As opposed to US, Italy or the UK and other European countries, India today has the fastest recovery rate,” the Home Minister said. 

Expressing satisfaction on the pace of vaccination, Shah said that four more vaccines were on their way besides ‘Covishield’ and ‘Covaxin’. 

“Our vaccination programme is progressing at a pace and we have inoculated 55 lakh persons in three weeks. We have exported vaccines to 14 countries as of now,” he said.