Virtually kick-starting the campaign for the forthcoming Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) polls, Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Monday charged that Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray had “back-stabbed” the BJP and exhorted his party workers to “teach a lesson” to the latter in the BMC polls.
Addressing a meeting of his party workers here, Shah said, “Don’t make a habit of tolerating traitors. You can overlook anything in politics but not treachery. Those who betray others must be punished… The time has come to show him (Uddhav) his place and teach him a lesson.”
Mincing no words in his criticism of Uddhav, Shah said, “You (Shiv Sena) sought votes in the name of Narendra Modi and on the work of (then Chief Minister) Devendra Fadnavis. You have betrayed the people. There is no place for betrayers in politics.”
Fadnavis, Maharashtra BJP president Chandrashekhar Bawankule and his Mumbai counterpart Ashish Shelar, and other senior party leaders were present.
Dismissing the Shiv Sena’s oft-repeated charge that the BJP went back on its promise of giving the Chief Minister’s post to the Sena on a rotational basis, Shah reiterated that his party had not made any commitment about the Chief Minister’s post to Uddhav in the 2019 State Assembly polls.
Shah, whose BJP is contesting the BMC polls in alliance with the Shiv Sena faction led by Eknath Shinde, said, “Our target is to win 150 seats in the BMC polls.”
“We must put an end to the ‘anti-Hindutva politics’ of the Uddhav-led Shiv Sena in Mumbai and Maharashtra. My appeal to you all to make the Sena bite the dust and win at least 150 (out of total 227 seats) in the BMC polls,” said Shah.
Earlier, the Mumbai-born Shah touched the feet of the grand idol of Lord Ganesh — the Lalbaugcha Raja of Mumbai, as he went on a whirlwind tour of the metropolis visiting political colleagues and allies.
Apart from taking darshan of Lalbaugcha Raja and offering prayers, the Union Home Minister visited the homes of Shinde, Fadnavis and city BJP chief Ashish Shelar for Ganesh ‘darshan’. Speaking at the BJP workers’ meeting in the presence of Shah, Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis exhorted the party workers to go all-out to win the BMC polls as “it is now or never”.
“The ‘original Shiv Sena’ ( led by Shinde) is with the BJP and the sole aim should be to capture the BMC. I appeal to all leaders, workers and supporters to work hard to ensure our victory in the BMC polls,” Fadnavis said. In its immediate retaliation, the Shiv Sena came down heavily on Shah for his criticism of its party president Uddhav. Sena spokespersons Dr Manisha Kayande and ex-Mayor Kishori Pednekar, and Leader of Opposition in Maharashtra Legislative Council Ambadas Danve hit out at Shah in their separate interaction with the media.
“Shah is considered No. 2 in the Central Government and such vicious language against our party president does not augur well for the position he is holding… If it was some ordinary BJP worker we could have understood that, but he is the country’s Home Minister,” Dr Kayande said.
Pednekar said the Sena is ‘a ground-level party’ the BJP leader could not do anything to make it ‘bite the dust’. “If the country’s Home Minister comes to help his party fight the BMC elections, then we as the Shiv Sena have already achieved our victory in the BMC polls,” Danve said.