In an expected fallout of the united Opposition front’s debacle in the recent Maharashtra Assembly polls, the Samajwadi Party (SP) walks out of the Congress-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) citing many reasons, including lack of coordination among the coalition partners on seat-sharing issues and the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT)’s stand on the Babri Masjid demolition.
Announcing his party’s decision to quit the MVA, State SP President Abu Azmi said that there was absolutely no co-ordination between his party and the MVA constituents on the seat-sharing process and there were also differences on various issues during the electioneering.
“There was absolutely no co-ordination between my party and the main MVA constituents during the seat-sharing process as well as campaigning.. They never called us for meetings or joint rallies. They used to avoid sharing each other’s campaign platforms and all this resulted in the MVA parties’ massive debacle in the Assembly polls,” Azmi said
The SP, which had sought 12 seats from the MVA, contested six seats in the St4ate Assembly polls and bagged two. While Azmi himself won from Mankhurd-Shivajinagar (Mumbai), Rais Kasam Shaikh romped home Bhiwandi East in Thane district.
“Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray, at an internal meeting, told party colleagues and workers to aggressively pursue the Hindutva agenda (ahead of the civic polls) . On December 6, the party posted a message on social media in favour of Babri mosque demolition. How can this be tolerated?,” Azmi asked.
One of the main reasons for the SP’s exit from the MVA is a post put out on micro-blogging site “X” by Uddhav’s personal assistant and MLC Milind Narvekar, hailing the demolition of the Babri Masjid. The post carried photographs of late Shiv Sena founder Balasaheb Thackeray, former Maharashtra Chief Minister and MLC Uddhav Thackeray and his son Aaditya Thackeray, who is an MLC from Worli in Mumbai.
“Yesterday, (Dec. 6), a SS (UBT) leader posted a social media message claiming credit for the (undivided) party on the razing of the Babri Mosque demolition (1993). How can we tolerate this?,” Azmi asked.
"Such posts hurt our sentiments and go against the values of unity and respect for all communities. We are here to promote harmony, not divide people,” Azmi said.
Azmi made it clear that the SP stood for secular values, saving democracy and the Constitution, and hence it would not side with any party adopting such a communal approach.
Asked if his party’s decision to quit the MVA would affect the status of the SP national party chief Akhilesh Yadav vis-Ã -vis his equations with INDIA block, Azmi was non-committal.