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Shiv Sena with Mamata Banerjee, won’t contest polls, says party’s Sanjay Raut
Shiv Sena chief spokesperson Sanjay Raut said that “money, muscle and media” are being used against West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee
Shiv Sena on Thursday announced that the party would not contest the West Bengal assembly election. The Sena said that it’ll will stand in “solidarity” with West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee. Sena chief spokesperson Sanjay Raut said that “money, muscle and media” are being used against Banerjee.
The announcement, which came as a surprise to many in West Bengal, was made by Raut around 1pm on Twitter.
Calling Banerjee “the real Bengal Trigress,” Raut tweeted that after discussions with Sena president Uddhav Thackeray the party has decided not to contest the Bengal polls.
“A lot of people are curious to know whether Shivsena is contesting West Bengal Polls or not ? So here’s the update after discussions with Party President Uddhav ji Thackeray. Looking at the present scenario, it appears like a ‘Didi Vs All ‘ fight. All ‘M’s - Money, Muscle and Media are being used against ‘M’amata Didi. Hence, Shivsena has decided not to Contest West Bengal polls & stand in solidarity with her. We wish Mamata Didi a ‘roaring ‘ success, ‘cos we believe She is the real Bengal Tigress !!,” Raut tweeted.
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Although their political presence in West Bengal is very limited, some regional parties, such as Bihar’s Rashtriya Janata Dal and the Samajwadi Party of Uttar Pradesh, have expressed solidarity with Banerjee and decided to contest a few seats as her ally.
TMC leaders feel that the gesture shown by these parties is more significant than the votes they might draw.
The Shiv Sena, however, made a complete U-turn after announcing on January 17 that it would contest the polls.
“So, here is the much awaited update. After discussions with Party Chief Shri Uddhav Thackeray, Shivsena has decided to contest the West Bengal Assembly Elections. We are reaching Kolkata soon...!! Jai Hind, Jai Bangla!” Raut tweeted at 6.38pm on January 17.
The tweet drew attention as the two slogans at the end are used by Banerjee at every rally.
Though a marginal force in Bengal, the Shiv Sena has an organisation in the state and it contested local elections several times in the past but did not see much success. The party wanted to contest at least 100 seats in north, south and the western districts where the BJP has made inroads, Ashoke Sarkar, the Shiv Sena general secretary in Bengal, told HT in January. He also said Uddhav Thackeray, Aditya Thackeray, Anil Desai and Sanjay Raut would come to Bengal and campaign.
In the past, the party has contested Lok Sabha elections, the 2016 assembly polls and a few local polls in West Bengal but without success. In 2016 state polls, Sena put up 21 candidates, who all lost their deposits. The party received 49,218 votes or 1.25% of the vote share.
Reacting to Shiv Sena’s decision to stay out of the race, Bengal BJP general secretary Sayantan Basu said, “Shiv Sena has little presence in Bengal. It would have made no difference if it contested the polls. The fight is essentially between the TMC and the BJP.”
TMC leaders did not react to Raut’s new announcement till 2.30pm on Thursday.
