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Mumbai: Vehemently denying that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had any role to play in triggering internal rebellion within the Shiv Sena led by its rebel leader and Maharashtra Minister Eknath Shinde, state BJP President Chandrakant Patil on Tuesday remarked that the unrest within the ruling Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government – and particularly the Shiv Sena has reached a peak.
He further contended that several Sena MLAs wanted to ally with the BJP and not the ideologically opposed Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and the Congress since the MVA’s formation.
Speaking to newspersons in Mumbai over the political turmoil sparked by Sena rebel leader Eknath Shinde, Chandrakant Patil said that the latter’s actions were the Shiv Sena’s internal matter and that the BJP was at present in a ‘wait and watch’ mode.
The state BJP president remarked, “BJP has not pre-planned Eknath Shinde’s rebellion. This is the Sena’s internal matter. The unrest within the MVA government had reached a peak. The government has been dominated by the NCP in the last two-and-a-half years.” It may be recalled that Patil, who has been predicting the MVA government’s imminent downfall since its formation in late 2019.
Chandrakant Patil said it was premature to say how the internal resentment within the Shiv Sena would benefit the BJP or translate into a “regime change.” He tersely remarked that he would not be surprised at all if the internal resentment that was currently plaguing the Shiv Sena was also noticed within the Congress and the NCP in the near future as well.
He further claimed that even before the formation of the MVA, a lot of MLAs within the Shiv Sena had been resentful of having to align with their traditional political adversaries, the Congress and the NCP.
The state BJP president further added, “Many Sena legislators who did not want to leave ‘Hindutva’ ideology, had wished for a natural alliance with the BJP (in 2019). They were dissatisfied with the MVA arrangement right from day one. After all, for how long can one run a government (of Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray) whose sole basis is that of teaching the BJP a lesson?”
The BJP and the Sena had contested the 2019 Maharashtra Assembly election as an alliance, the Sena severed its long-standing alliance with the BJP after bickering over the Chief Minister’s post. It then formed an alliance with the NCP and the Congress to keep the BJP out of power.
Commenting on the MLC elections where the BJP again trumped the MVA to win five seats, Patil remarked that the BJP had never said they had only received the votes of Eknath Shinde and his faction. “All parties helped us. So, I wouldn’t be surprised if the resentment that is plaguing Sena is soon felt within the Congress and the NCP as well,” he added.
The MLC poll results showed that the BJP, which has 106 legislators, now had the support of 133 MLAs. Eknath Shinde and a section of Sena MLAs have been ‘not reachable’ soon after the elections, holing out in Surat in Gujarat since last night.
While remarking that neither the BJP nor Eknath Shinde had made any proposal till now, he nevertheless said that his party would be happy to accept if any proposal is made by Eknath Shinde.
Regarding Eknath Shinde and Sena MLAs choosing BJP-ruled Gujarat while raising the banner of rebellion, Patil said it was quite possible that the Sena leader may have felt more ‘secure’ there. He was responding to questions that Gujarat BJP president C.R. Patil had been in close touch with Eknath Shinde during the latter’s Gujarat stay. “Eknath Shinde, who has several friends across party lines, must have felt safe in Surat,” further added Patil.
Following Eknath Shinde raising the banner of revolt, Sena MP Sanjay Raut, in firefighting mode accused the BJP of “abducting” and threatening Sena MLAs with “physical harm” if they refused to accede to the BJP’s conditions.
Meanwhile, Eknath Shinde, breaking his silence over Twitter said that he was a staunch Shiv Sainik of (late Sena founder) Balasaheb Thackeray.
Eknath Shinde tweeted, “Balasaheb has taught us Hindutva …We have never and will never cheat for power when it comes to Balasaheb’s thoughts and Dharmaveer Anand Dighe Saheb’s teachings.”
The reference to late Sena leader and Thane strongman Anand Dighe prompted Union Minister and BJP leader Narayan Rane, a former Shiv Sainik – to tweet and congratulate Eknath Shinde on his decision.
In a pointed tweet, Narayan Rane remarked “Well done, Eknathji. You have taken the right decision at the right time, else they (Thackeray family) would have done to you what they did to Anand Dighe.”
The late Anand Dighe, a forceful personality and the strongman of Thane, had been the key Sena man responsible for the party’s expansion in Thane region. His sudden demise in 2001 while undergoing treatment for a leg injury had caused his followers to run riot and burn down a 200-bed hospital in Thane where Dighe was undergoing treatment. He was often called as ‘Dharmaveer’ Anand Dighe and had his own clout in the region.
When Narayan Rane quit the Shiv Sena and turned into a bitter critic and bete noire of Uddhav Thackeray, he had alleged that Anand Dighe had been apparently murdered on Balasaheb Thackeray’s orders. Eknath Shinde is a former protégé of Anand Dighe, having taken over the Thane region after the latter’s death.
