Leaders turn back on protest
Shiv Sena slams BJP for using children in protest
The protest announced by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) against the present government left it red-faced with many of its workers turning their backs on it. The aggressive ruling parties attacked BJP on social media by trending #MaharashtradrohiBJP on Twitter.
BJP had planned on having a mega event with state president Chandrakant Patil scheduling virtual meetings and giving clear cut instructions about the protest. The slogans to be written on placards and the method of protesting was conveyed to them. But despite this, it got a lukewarm response. Only key BJP leaders participated in the agitation near their home or party office.
In Pune, the protest was scheduled to be held from 10.30am to 11am. Only a few workers were seen near the party office.
Shiv Sena workers gathered before the office of BJP state president Chandrakant Patil and expressed their solidarity with the state government. In rest of Maharashtra, the agitation was scheduled from 11am to 11.30am. However, workers were missing. “When the state is fighting its worst battle against COVID-19, BJP should have joined it in this fight. But they ditched Maharashtra. The people of Maharashtra did not like this. Even their workers’ conscience did not allow them to participate in the protest at such a time,” Congress spokesperson Sachin Sawant said.
Shiv Sena leader and Tourism Minister Aaditya Thackeray slammed BJP for using children in its protest against the Maha Vikas Aghadi government. A BJP member of the legislative assembly was seen with children in the protest. The children, having BJP flags in their hand, were not wearing masks. “Absolutely shameful. What lust for power politics can make leaders do this? Making kids stand in the heat, with their masks lowered, not covering the face for a political protest when we need to keep them safe and indoors. Corona ko bhul gaye, politics pyaara hai,” Aaditya said in his tweet. Another BJP leader and former minister Babanrao Lonikar was also seen with children while protesting.
BJP and MVA fight on Twitter
BJP and the ruling MVA fought the battle on social media too. BJP used hashtag #MaharashtraBachao (Save Maharashtra) and MVA used the hashtag #MaharashtradrohiBJP (Maharashtra traitor BJP) on Twitter to run the trend. The supporters and workers of both the parties tried their best to make their trend number one. But in the evening MVA trend # MaharashtradrohiBJP topped in the country with more than 1.25 lakh tweets on this subject. The #MaharashtraBachao hashtag got 73,200 tweets.