PM takes ‘nakli’ Sena, NCP jibe at Maha rally
MUMBAI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday advised the Sharad Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party (SP) and Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT) to join hands with Ajit Pawar and Eknath Shinde, instead of “dying by merging with the Congress”.
“A big leader here who is active for 40-50 years is worried after polling in Baramati (Lok Sabha seat). He says that after June 4, smaller parties, in order to survive, will merge with the Congress,” Modi said at an election rally in Nandurbar district of north Maharashtra.
“This means the nakli NCP and nakli Shiv Sena have made up their minds to merge with the Congress... But instead of dying by merging with the Congress, come to Ajit Pawar and Eknath Shinde,” he added.
Both Sharad Pawar and Thackeray hit back, with the NCP (SP) chief saying that the parliamentary democracy is under threat because of Modi, and he won’t ally with those who do not believe in it. “PM Modi’s recent speeches have been conducive to creating rifts among communities, which is dangerous for the country. Wherever things are not in the nation’s interest, neither I nor my colleagues will venture,” he said.
Thackeray, too, slammed Modi for calling his party the “duplicate Sena” and labelling him the “fake son” of Bal Thackeray and asserted Maharashtra would not tolerate such insults. “Modi took my signature (for nominations) in 2014 and 2019 but he now calls me fake son of Balasaheb Thackeray and my party as nakli Shiv Sena...,” he said.
Nandurbar is among 11 Lok Sabha seats in Maharashtra that will go to polls on May 13.
In July last year, Ajit Pawar had walked away with a majority of the NCP MLAs and joined hands with the BJP-Sena combine in the Maharashtra government. Later, the Election Commission officiated the Ajit-led faction as the real NCP while his uncle Sharad Pawar’s faction was named the NCP (SP).
Earlier, the Shiv Sena suffered a vertical split in June 2022 when current CM Eknath Shinde and 38 other legislators walked out of the party then led by Uddhav Thackeray and joined hands with the BJP to form the government.
Speaking at the rally, Modi also accused the Congress of conspiring to end “Hindu aastha” (faith). “The guru of Congress’s ‘shehzada’ has told the US that Ram temple and Ram Navmi festivities are against the idea of India,” Modi said, targeting senior Congress leader Sam Pitroda, who resigned on Wednesday after stoking controversy with his remarks on the
facial features and skin colours of Indians. “Congress calls people with Lord Krishna’s colour as Africans. So they didn’t want Droupadi Murmu to be the President of India. Isn’t it an insult of adivasis,” he asked.
In an apparent reference to Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut’s alleged comment about “burying him in Maharashtra just like Mughal emperor Aurangzeb”, Modi said, those from the “nakli” Sena are speaking of “burying him alive”.