The Shiv Sena’s Dussehra rally proved to be damp squib on Saturday night, with party president Uddhav Thackeray refraining from carrying out the much-discussed threat of walking out of the BJP-led alliance Government in the State but announcing that his party would intensify its agitation against the Government on price rise and other issues.
In contrast to the atmosphere his party had sought to create on September 18 when his party’s spokesperson Sanjay Raut had gone town saying that the Shiv Sena was “close” to taking a decision on whether or not to continue its alliance with the ruling BJP, Uddhav indicated that his party would continue to raise issues of public importance even while being within the BJP-led Governments in the state and at the Centre.
Addressing the annual Dussehra rally at the Shivaji Park grounds here, Uddhav said: “Many of you must have been waiting to hear from me as what stand that the Sena will take vis-a-vis the ruling BJP, I would like to tell that the Shiv Sena will intensify its agitation on issues of price rise, Hindutva, women issues and farmer loan waiver issue in the coming days. My only request to you is not to raise insulting slogans against Prime Minister Narendra Modi or any other leader during our forthcoming
agitations”.
Uddhav’s exhortation to the Shiv Sainks not to raise any insulting slogans against the Prime Minister should be seen in the light of the fact that the Sena activists – comprising both leaders and leaders – had raised slogans like “Evdi Mansha Kashyala, Modincha Maithala ( why are these many people here, it is Modi’s funeral), during the protests they had staged at 12 different locations on September 23 against the hike in prices of fuel, essential commodities and omestic gas cylinders.
Criticising the Narendra Modi government for its failure to keep its promises, for the lop-sided implementation of demonetisation and GST and its plans to start bullet train between Mumbai and Ahmedabad, Uddhav said that if social media was any indication, the tide had fully turned against the Government.
“Today, the entire social media has turned against the Narendra Modi government. Instead of finding out what has gone wrong with it, the Government is trying to identify and send us notices to the youngsters sending messages against it. How can the Government treat our own youngsters like Rohingyas.
However much you try to suppress the youngster, they will erupt,” Uddhav said.
“You may not know these youngsters, but then I can tell you theirs is blood and they will sooner or later turn against you. That’s why I would like to tell the ruling BJP that they were treating you with so much of love and affection. But, the ruling party is behaving badly and doing unwarranted things. I would like to tell you, please do not rub others the wrong way. It is in your interest and is in the interest of the nation,” the Sena president said.
Informed Sena sources say that if Uddhav has chosen not to carry out its oft-repeated threat of walking out of the BJP-led government in the state, it is because he apprehends a spilt in the party the moment he pulls the plug of Devendra Fadnavis government.
It may be recalled that at a meeting of party’s elected representatives – MlAs and MPs held on September 18, had opposed the majority opinion that the Sena should quit the governments in the state and at the Centre.
Following the September 18 meeting, Uddhav had re-considered the plans to walk out of the BJP-led governments in the State and at the Centre.
The Sena’s climb down should be seen in the pronouncements that Sena’s spokesperson and MP Sanjay Raut had made after the elected representatives’ meeting held on September 18.
On that day, Raut had indicated that the Sena would soon take a call on walking out of the Devendra Fadnavis-led saffron alliance government in Maharashtra in view of what it called “growing dissatisfaction” among the people in the state and the country about the rising prices of essential commodities, diesel and petrol, the continued agrarian crisis and its own inability to address the grievances of the people.
“We have come close to taking a decision whether or not to continue in this government,” Raut had said.
Interacting with media persons after putting out a series of tweets saying that the Sena did not want to responsibility for the miseries like increase in the price of essential commodities, petrol and diesel, Raut said: “The Sena has come closer to taking a decision.... Uddhavji has heard all of us out. Wait and wait as to what will happen next”.
Giving details of what transpired at the meeting, Raut said: “At the party meeting, Uddhavji addressed all of us and elicited the views on the current situation in the state and the country... The manner in which prices of essential commodities and diesel and patrol have gone up has destroyed the lives of the people in the state and across the country. The government has also not found a solution to the farmers’ loan waiver. There is both disappointment and resentment in the minds of the people. The people are angry with the government”.
“We accept that we are part of this government but this government is not ours. The government is fully in the hands of the BJP. As a result people are also unhappy with us. The people were expecting us to do something but we are unable to do anything. All the MlAs and MPs have expressed our views at the meeting. All of us have told the party president to take a decision in this regard,” Raut said.
However, what Raut had not spoken about was the fact that a section of Sena MlAs had opposed the majority view that the Sena should quit the Fadnavis government in the state.