Mumbai, Aug 31 (UNI) Slamming the Shiv Sena (UBT) for siding with “corrupt” leaders and parties, Shiv Sena (Shinde) on Thursday wondered whether Uddhav Thackeray would seek an apology from Congress MP Rahul Gandhi for repeatedly “insulting” Veer Savarkar. Senior Shiv Sena (Shinde) leader and MP Gajanan Kirtikar and party’s chief spokesperson and minister Deepak Kesarkar regretted that Thackeray has now become a “puppet” in the hands of the Congress, a party whose ideology his father and Sena founder Balasaheb Thackeray opposed throughout his life
Addressing a press conference on a day the I.N.D.I.A alliance, of which Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT) is a constituent, is holding its meeting here, Kirtikar said all parties in the coalition were “epitomes of dynastic politics”.
“Uddhav Thackeray’s alliance with these leaders is a betrayal of Balasaheb’s principles. Will Uddhav Thackeray ask Rahul Gandhi to apologize for insulting Swatantryaveer Savarkar? How many leaders attending the I.N.D.I.A alliance meeting will visit Balasaheb’s memorial and pay their respects?” asked the Sena (Shinde) leaders.
“Of the parties involved in this alliance, 17 are trying to further the cause of dynasty politics. They don’t care about the country’s development,” said Kirtikar.
Questioning Thackeray’s role in the alliance, Kesarkar said: “Uddhav is now the puppet of Congress. Hinduhruday Samrat Balasaheb Thackeray opposed the ideology of Congress throughout his life. He once mentioned that he might disband his party but would never join hands with the Congress. This was the stance Balasaheb took all his life. Now, Uddhav Thackeray has become a puppet whose strings are in the hands of the Congress,” he said.
Kirtikar said Thackeray was allying with leaders from the Samajwadi Party, who ordered firing on the ‘Kar Sevaks’, and Lalu Prasad Yadav, who stopped LK Advani’s rath yatra for the cause of Ram Mandir.
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“Would Uddhav have broken the alliance then? Uddhav Thackeray has taken all these adverse steps just to secure the Chief Minister’s position for himself. If the BJP had offered him the Chief Minister’s position for five years, would he have broken the alliance? Uddhav should answer this question,” said Kesarkar.
He said after the Assembly election in 2019, Thackeray had met Modi and the two leaders talked about forming the government. “However, his mind changed later because of the allure of the Chief Minister’s post,” said Kesarkar.
