Picture yet to unfold, Sena chief tells cadre after meeting Shah
MUMBAI: A day after Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) national president Amit Shah met Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray for over two hours to mollify the Sena for an alliance, Thackeray adopted a hard line stance and signalled that his party could still contest the Lok Sabha polls solo.
Thackeray, who addressed party workers in Talasari, 125km from Mumbai, projected Srinivas Wanga as Sena’s candidate for the Palghar Lok Sabha seat in 2019. Palghar has been BJP’s seat and Wanga is the son of late BJP MP Chintaman Wanga, whom Sena inducted days ahead of the Palghar Lok Sabha bypolls.
While Sena lost the bypoll, Thackeray reiterated on Thursday that he would not accept the defeat. Addressing party cadre, he also signalled that despite the meeting with Shah, all was not settled between the allies. “The entire picture is yet to unfold, whatever is happening now is just drama (picture toh ab baaki hai). You are the hero in this picture of 2019,’’ Thackeray told Wanga through his address. He also told Wanga that for bypolls he had got only 15 days but he would get eight to nine months for Lok Sabha polls and should not rest until he becomes MP. “Now, we can’t let go of this seat,” he said.
Thackeray also questioned the BJP win, pointing out that the victory was because many names were missing from the voters’ list, bogus voting was rampant, besides the malfunctioning of the Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs). He also said that Sena would continue to oppose the BJP’s bullet train project, and the Mumbai Vadodara expressway, among other projects.
Senior Sena leaders said the party leadership is cautious and the party will continue its aggressive stance for now despite Shah offering to make amends. During the meeting between Thackeray and Shah, the former is said to have taken up issues such as the lack of communication within the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) and no role in decisionmaking for Shiv Sena within the Maharashtra government.
Shah is learnt to have offered a favourable agreement for state polls, a 50:50 seat sharing formula, if Sena goes with the BJP for the Lok Sabha polls. He also promised another two to three meetings with senior leaders of both parties to sort out grievances and discuss alliance.
“In 2014, we have seen things change between the Lok Sabha election and the assembly poll. The BJP has backstabbed us in the past; we will now wait and watch,’’ said a senior Sena leader who did not wish to be named.
“All main sticking points were discussed in the meeting, including each other’s grievances. Both Lok Sabha and assembly polls were also discussed. The Sena chief did agree that Hindutva agenda must not lose due to this bickering in the upcoming elections,’’ said a senior BJP leader.