Shiv Sena and BJP bond is unbreakable: Fadnavis
NAGPUR: In the backdrop of the bittersweet ties between saffron allies BJP and Shiv Sena, chief minister Devendra Fadnavis on Friday said their bond was as unbreakable “as that of Fevicol”.
Addressing a workers’ gathering of both parties at Amravati and Nagpur, in the presence of Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray, to imotivate them ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, Fadnavis said some people even withdrew their candidature, fearing the strong bond – in an apparent reference to, but without naming NCP chief Sharad Pawar.
Pawar had earlier said he would enter the poll fray, but later did a U-turn in favour of his grandson, Parth, to contest.
Meanwhile, in a lighter vein, Thackeray said, “The situation in the state is such that whenever BJP-SENA leaders criticise Opposition leaders, the next day they join the BJP-SENA. This makes me think if I should criticise or not? If I criticise Pawar today, he may join BJP tomorrow. But don’t give him any room in the party,” Thackeray said.
“We need to keep some people outside, else there would be no one left out for us to talk about,” he added.
The chief minister also indirectly attacked Congress-ncp leaders and said, “Some leaders were happily anticipating that the saffron alliance would fall apart and had nefarious designs to grab power. But the announcement of the BJP-SENA alliance swept the ground from under the opposition’s feet.”
Asking the gathering not to get carried away by false propaganda on social media against the alliance candidates, Fadnavis spoke highly of the work done by the Centre and the state in the past five years and said it contributed a lot in improving the living standard of the poor.
He also took a dig at Ajit Pawar’s comment that when Pawar was chief minister, Fadnavis was in nursery, saying, “I passed my school, college and today I am the headmaster. But you stagnated.”
Thackeray said Sena never opposed the Fadnavis government for any personal interests. “We want power for the good of the poor, for the common man, who nurture hope. In any case, we should not let it down because BJP-SENA is the last ray of hope for him and for the country.”
Recalling the untiring work done by the late Bal Thackeray and the late Atal Bihari Vajpayee, the Sena chief said the alliance flourished today because of them.
He regretted that the current tiff between the two parties was ‘unfortunate’, but urged the chief minister to throw out those bureaucrats who stall the government schemes from reaching the grass-roots.