Sena chief campaigns against ally
KANKAVLI: A day after former Maharashtra chief minister Narayan Rane merged his party, Maharashtra Swabhiman Paksha with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the presence of chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray slammed Rane at a rally in Kankavli in Sindhudurg district, without naming him.
Rane’s son, Nitish is the BJP candidate from this seat which he had won on a Congress ticket in the previous assembly polls. Though the BJP and Shiv Sena have an alliance, the Sena has fielded Satish Sawant, a close aide of Narayan Rane.
“Despite the alliance, I have come here to ensure the victory of the Sena candidate. Had the BJP given a ticket to a loyal party worker, I would have come for his campaigning,” Thackeray said. “I am not here to criticise BJP. I don’t want this revengeful attitude in my party but also don’t want it in BJP. They are known for backstabbing,” he said.
Narayan Rane was expelled from Sena by Bal Thackeray — Uddhav’s father and Sena founder — for revolting against Thackeray’s authority.
If you think there is unrest among the people, why did the Opposition fail to raise these issues?
We did raise issues. We did not get much publicity, but that doesn’t mean the Opposition didn’t do anything on ground. The issues should have been taken to their logical end where we failed. The issue of Aarey tree cutting (for construction of a car shed for Mumbai Metro) and Punjab & Maharashtra Co-operative Bank should have been taken up in the campaign in Mumbai, but we have not done it. Our leader of Opposition, Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil, was the face of the Opposition, but he defected to the ruling party. His decision did not happen overnight, it must have been cooking for quite some time.
But why should they be afraid of any action if they are not involved in any wrongdoing?
It is not about wrongdoing. An inquiry can be initiated for anything if one is running an institution. A notice in response to allegations of corruption or an inquiry is enough to malign the image as the case goes on for years, and even if you are proven innocent, the (political) damage is already done. People in public life are worried about this modus operandi. Action is not taken against the ruling party politicians involved in corruption and irregularities. Why no concrete action is being taken against the directors of the PMC Bank?
Are you saying that more Congress leaders are on radar of the BJP?
Yes of course. The BJP has been using government machinery in this election. Our leaders are
Aren’t sections of Maratha community which was a strong support base for your party tilting towards the BJP because of its decision to give them reservation?
I do not think so. No benefit of the reservation is seen on ground. Government hasn’t filled vacancies meant for the community. Rather than reservation, unemployment and financial recession are bigger issues.
Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi led by Prakash Ambedkar split the Opposition’s votes in Lok Sabha elections. Won’t it damage your party’s prospects in assembly polls too?
The response to the VBA has receded by about 60% as Dalit voters have realised that it was a mistake. Ambedkar has now changed his stand, but it is not clear who will be benefited by it. Had he come with us, he too would have benefited. Only he knows why he didn’t do it.