“Where Was This Respect When You Broke Alliance?” Shiv Sena asks Modi

Oct 06, 2014 Tushita Politics 0

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After the PM said that he refrained from criticising the former ally at a poll rally in Maharashtra as a tribute to the late patriarch, the Shiv Sena on Monday launched a blistering attack on the BJP, blaming it for the end of their 25-year-old alliance and questioned Narendra Modi’s `new-found’ respect for Bal Thackeray

Retaliating to Modi’s claims of not saying anything about the Sena out of respect for Bal Thackrey, the Sena said, “Modi says that he will not attack the Sena in his speeches as he has respect for Balasaheb Thackeray. We too respect the PM.”

“But when you back-stabbed us merely on the issue of seat sharing, where did that respect disappear then? Did you not think of Balasaheb before breaking the alliance forged on the principles of Hindutva,” the Sena said in its editorial mouthpiece ‘Saamana’

The Prime Minister while campaigning at Tasgaon in Sangli district yesterday had said that he would “not utter a single word” against the Sena out of his respect for Bal Thackeray.

“Political pundits are saying why is Modi not criticising Shiv Sena in his speeches (during poll campaign). This is the first election in absence of late Bal Thackeray, for whom I have great respect. I have decided not to utter a single word against Shiv Sena. This is my tribute to Balasaheb Thackeray,” Mr. Modi had said.

On the other hand, Raj Thackeray, theMNS chief and estranged cousin of Shiv Sena’s head UddhavThackeray, had earlier even went so far as to criticise the ruling party for ending its Shiv Sena alliance.

“Do you think that the BJP can now be trusted after what they did to the Shiv Sena? Some BJP leader told me that they had planned the break-up long ago. Did Uddhav not understand this? If Balasaheb would have been alive today, he would have broken the alliance a month ago itself”, he said during an election rally.

Following these remarks, speculations are being held about a post-election patch up between the Thackeray cousins.

While analysts said that Mr. Modi’s strategy was possibly aimed at weaning away the Sena voters, even as it helped the BJP keep a door open for any post-poll eventuality, the Sena clearly minces no words and keeps its stance and political aspirations straight and clear.

Equating the BJP with the “corrupt” Congress and the NCP, the Sena said that people in Maharashtra have now realized who the “real and hidden” thieves of the state are.

“It is a known fact that the Congress and the NCP have looted Maharashtra. But for what purpose did the CM of Gujarat Anandiben Patel visit Maharashtra? If she asks all the industrialists to set base in Gujarat, leaving Maharashtra behind, this too amounts to looting Maharashtra,” the editorial said.

“How do you define keeping an eye on the coffers of the state and making a deal of Mumbai (for the benefit of Gujarat)? Is this not looting Maharashtra? And then talking
about the blessings of Shivaji Maharaj is nothing but a farce,” it said.

During the same speech, Modi kept invoking Maratha warrior Chhatrapati Shivaji multiple times. Shivaji is seen as an icon by Shiv Sena and the dominant Maratha population of Maharashtra. The Sena went ahead questioning the reference made by the PM.

“Never before has anyone opened a market of Shivaji Maharaj’s blessings,” the Sena added.

The BJP and Shiv Sena had earlier ended their 25-years old alliance following a seat-sharing deadlock pertaining to the upcoming assembly polls in Maharashtra, slated to begin on October 15.

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• BJP, narendra modi, Shiv Sena, Shiv send and bjp

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