E-Paper
‘If you slap someone...’: Amit Shah nudges BJP to aim for BMC win to hurt Uddhav
Deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis said it was necessary that BJP leaders and workers put their best foot forward in preparing for the BMC elections. “Act as if this poll (to the BMC) is the last election of your life,” he said
MUMBAI: Union home minister Amit Shah launched a bitter attack on the Shiv Sena during his visit to Mumbai on Monday, accusing Uddhav Thackeray of political treachery and asking the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) workers in the city to ensure the Sena’s in the crucial Mumbai civic body elections later this year.
Shah, who was on a two-day visit to Mumbai, told party leaders that they must ensure the BJP wins 150 of the 227 seats in the prestige battle for the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) and said that Mumbai’s politics must be dominated by the BJP. In 2017, the party won 82 seats.
“If you slap someone anywhere, he will be hurt... But if you slap anyone in front of their home, it hurts the soul. There is an opportunity to hurt (the Shiv Sena) in Mumbai,” said Shah, who was speaking to BJP legislators and leaders in Mumbai on Monday.
He said the BMC elections were the best opportunity to pin the Thackerays to the ground. “The dominance of the BJP must be established over Mumbai’s politics,” Shah told a meeting of BJP leaders in Mumbai..
“…Uddhav Thackeray betrayed us. Those who are in the habit of betraying others in politics cannot strengthen their position in politics,” said Shah. “In politics, you can tolerate injustice… but those who betray others must be punished,” he urged, calling for the Shiv Sena to be trounced.
“It is necessary for every worker of the BJP to hit the ground in this electoral battle and fight for the honour of the party,” said Shah. The former BJP president said after the party came to power in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections under Narendra Modi, it decided to negotiate the power-sharing terms with the Sena based on the BJP’s national popularity and also to expand the party’s footprint.
“However, for just two seats… the Shiv Sena snapped the alliance,” Shah said, adding that the Shiv Sena was clearly daydreaming. “(They felt) where will the BJP go? We will get more seats and install our man as the chief minister,” he added. But these plans had come to nought with the BJP getting more seats and the Sena emerging as the smaller party.
“It was not the BJP’s handiwork to reduce the Shiv Sena to a smaller party. You broke the alliance. If the Shiv Sena became the smaller party, you (Uddhav Thackeray) are responsible for that and no one else,” he attacked.
Amit Shah reiterated that the BJP did not promise the chief minister’s position to the Shiv Sena ahead of the 2019 state assembly, recalling how BJP leaders including Prime Minister Narendra Modi unequivocally told election meetings that Fadnavis will be the chief minister. Shah added that he had called on people to “vote for the Shiv Sena to make Devendra Fadnavis the chief minister” in two rallies which were also attended by Thackeray.
Shah charged the Shiv Sena with working to defeat the BJP’s nominees in the 2019 assembly election and added that despite this “back-stabbing,” the BJP won more seats. However, the Shiv Sena allied with the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and Congress to form the government.
He said the chief minister Eknath Shinde-led faction represented the real Shiv Sena and it was with them. “Eknath Shinde did not betray (you). Uddhavji, it was you who betrayed your ideology… Eknath Shinde is standing with the original ideology of the Shiv Sena,” added Shah. He accused Thackeray of joining hands with the erstwhile enemy, NCP chief Sharad Pawar for power, after seeking votes in the name of Modi and the performance of Fadnavis.
Deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis said it was necessary that BJP leaders and workers “act as if this poll (to the BMC) is the last election of your life.”
“Work with the credo of abhi nahi to kabhi nahi (now or never) in this poll,” he said, and asked them to keep their differences with party colleagues for the larger battle that was on their hands.
Shiv Sena legislator and spokesperson Manisha Kayande said the Shiv Sena, unlike the BJP, worked for the welfare of the people throughout the year, and not just ahead of elections. “Such language does not behove a home minister. He is the home minister of the country and hence should not use such language,” said Kayande said.
