Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray’s pot shot at Narendra Modi over the AAP’s landslide victory in the Delhi Assembly polls on Tuesday sparked unease within the saffron alliance, with BJP’s Mumbai unit chief Ashish Shelar daring the Sena to walk out of the Devendra Fadnavis-led Government before choosing to criticise the Prime Minister.
Addressing a news conference here, Uddhav profusely congratulated the people of Delhi for voting decisively in the Assembly, and said that the mandate was against Modi and that the Delhi voters had established that a ‘tsunami’ was any day mightier than a ‘wave’. “The Delhi voters deserve every inch of praise for the manner in which they have voted. Because, notwithstanding immense pressure they must have come under and the temptations and campaign hype they must have exposed to, the voters in Delhi did precisely what wanted to do,” Uddhav said.
Uddhav, who had questioned the very existence of “Modi wave” during the Maharashtra Assembly polls, said: “Through their verdict in favour of AAP, the Delhi voters have clearly established that tsunami is any day mightier than a wave”. Queried if he agreed with social activist Anna Hazare’s contention the mandate in the Delhi Assembly polls was against Modi, Uddhav said: “If he looks at the verdict that way, I do not disagree with him at all. Because, the voters of Delhi had as much confidence in Modi (as they have reposed in Kejriwal in the current polls)”
Replying to a question, Uddhav said : “The Delhi voters had proved that they should not be taken for granted by any political party and that they would act in a manner in which they deemed fit. Whatever happened in Delhi is a live example of voters’ independent mind.” The Sena president refrained from commenting on the view in certain quarters that the BJP’s decision to nominate Kiran Bedi as its chief ministerial candidate had contributed to the party’s defeat in the Delhi Assembly polls. “The Delhi voters will be in a better position to answer this question,” he quipped.
Uddhav, who had called up and congratulated AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal earlier in the day for his party’s landslide victory in the polls, said that he would attend the new Government’s swearing-in ceremony he was invited to do so. “I spoke to (Arvind) Kejriwal on Tuesday and congratulated him on his party’s victory. I also advised him to continue to work for Delhi and not commit the mistake of resigning from the CM’s post again,” Uddhav said.
Meanwhile, hitting back Uddhav for his criticism that the Delhi poll mandate should be consumed as a “defeat” of Modi, BJP’s Mumbai unit president Ashish Shelar said: “The Delhi elections were not National polls, but were strictly State polls. The question of linking Modi’s name to the poll outcome does not arise at all. If someone wants to criticise Modi, BJP workers’ stand is crystal clear: Modiji is the leader of 120 crore people and he is the Prime Minister. If you want to criticise him, then you better walk out of our Government and then show the courage of criticising the Prime Minister”
Reacting to Uddhav’s comment that a tsunami was any day mightier than a “wave”, Shelar said: “It is good that Uddhavji has realised that a tsunami is mightier than a wave. That being the case, he should first introspect as to why the Sena was defeated in the local elections at Palghar in Thane district where it had fought against the BJP. Instead of worrying about what is happening in other parts of the country, he should worry more about what is happening in Mumbai and Maharashtra”.
Earlier, replying to a question at his news conference, Uddhav said that the Sena would continue to be in the Government even while crusading to ensure that the benefits of Government schemes reached the people. “When we were in the Opposition, we had a responsibility towards the people of this State. After joining the BJP-led Government, our responsibility has only increased. It is our duty to live up to the expectations of the people. Thus, I and the Shiv Sena will ensure that schemes that are meant to benefit people, actually benefit them,” Uddhav said.