The Shiv Sena, founded in 1966 by Bal Thackeray, allied with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in 1989 and the alliance continued till Shiv Sena moved out of the alliance in 2019.
A remark on Bal Thackeray’s birth anniversary on Sunday (January 23), by his son and Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, has raised many eyebrows.
For the first time ever, a member of the Thackeray clan has publicly raised questions over a decision Bal Thackeray, popularly known as Balasaheb, took years back.
On Sunday (January 23), in a programme to mark the birth anniversary of Balasaheb, his son and Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray said that Shiv Sena wasted its 25 years in alliance with the BJP.
“I reiterate that 25 years of Shiv Sena were wasted in an alliance with the BJP”, he said. What can not be missed here is the Shiv Sena’s decision of alliance with the BJP was taken by Balasaheb.
Till his death on November 17, 2012, it was only Balasaheb whose writ run large in Shiv Sena. Rest all were just the messengers of his message.
Taking a dig at Maharashtra chief minister, BJP IT cell head Amit Malviya said “He is questioning the wisdom of his father late Balasaheb Thackeray?”
Commenting on the remark of Uddhav Thackeray, the BJP National General Secretary Tarun Chugh said, “पहले बाला साहब के सिद्धांतों के साथ समझौता किए और अब उनके फ़ैसलों पर सवाल भी उठाने लगें। आज बाला साहब की आत्मा सच में रो रही होगी।” (First he compromised with the principles of Balasaheb and now raising questions over decisions of him. Balasaheb’s soul must be crying today.)
CM Uddhav Thackeray said many other things too which raised eyebrows.
“I believe that the BJP's opportunistic Hindutva is for power…Those who were criticising the Emergency period are right now behind an invisible emergency in the country. And if we want to end this, the Shiv Sena is needed”, PTI quoted him.
The events of the last few years say otherwise. It was Sena Sena president Uddhav Thackeray who moved out of the BJP-led alliance NDA for forming government in Maharashtra. And, he allied with Congress, a party Balasaheb fought all his life against.
It is Uddhav Thackeray-led government which is filing cases against activists and opposition leaders for social media posts. It is CM Uddhav Thackeray who compromised with his authority for power.
As far as Covid-19 pandemic management is concerned, Maharashtra has been continuously competing with Kerala for mismanagement.
Under the watch of CM Uddhav Thackeray, dirty episode involving then Mumbai Police Commissioner Parambir Singh and then state Home Minister Anil Deshmukh unfolded.
IPS officer Parambir Singh is running around and Anil Deshmukh is in jail on charges of running an extortion racket. The heat of the case had reached Maharashtra chief minister’s office also.
Under CM Thackeray’s watch, Republic TV Editor Arnab Goswami was sent to jail in a ‘cooked-up’ case. Even Bombay High Court came down heavily on the Maharashtra government and Goswami was granted bail.
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