A war of word has erupted, yet again over Hindutva, between former partners Shiv Sena and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) with each claiming to be the real saviour of Hindutva.
On Sunday, on the occasion of birth anniversary of Sena founder late Bal Thackeray, Maharashtra Chief Minister and his son Uddhav Thackeray accused BJP of using Hindutva as per political convenience. “BJP doesn’t mean Hindutva. I stand by my comment that Shiv Sena had wasted 25 years in alliance with the BJP,” he said.
On Monday, former Chief Minister and BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis claimed that it was the BJP which took bullets for Ram temple in Ayodhya while the leaders of the Sena were busy giving speeches.
Leaders of both parties indulged in bickering with Sena Rajya Sabha MP Priyanka Chaturvedi taunting the BJP that, one statement from Sena chief exposed BJP’s ethic-less Hindutva politics. BJP state president Chandrakant Patil said that it was Sena’s failure in local body polls that has angered Mr. Thackeray.
Sena ally Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader and State minister Nawab Malik said that Fadnavis tried to finish off Sena with the help from Delhi but since the latter retaliated, the BJP has gone berserk.
“Allahabad has been renamed as Prayagraj. But you can’t even change Aurangabad to Sambhajinagar,” Mr. Fadnavis taunted the present CM. Commenting on Mr. Thackeray’s comment on 25 years of alliance, the BJP leader said, “You are now allied with the Congress and the NCP. Did Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi post at least one tweet on the anniversary of Balasaheb Thackeray?” he asked.
“We supported the BJP wholeheartedly to enable them to fulfill their national ambitions. The understanding was they will go national while we will lead in Maharashtra. But we were betrayed and attempts were made to destroy us in our home. So we had to hit back,” Mr. Thackeray said, justifying the alliance with Congress and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) in Maharashtra.