By PTI
MUMBAI: Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Sunday blamed the BJP for the defeat of the Shiv Sena nominee from the Kolhapur North seat in the 2019 assembly polls despite the alliance between the two parties at that time.
Joining virtually the campaign for Maha Vikas Aghadi’s (MVA) candidate Jayashree Jadhav, who belongs to Congress, for the April 12 bypoll from the Kolhapur North seat, Thackeray wondered if BJP had a hidden alliance with Congress in this constituency in 2019 polls.
Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena heads the MVA government which includes NCP and Congress.
“Votes of Congress increased in 2019 polls ((in Kolhapur North) compared to 2014 elections which resulted in the defeat of Shiv Sena’s nominee despite the alliance with the BJP.
Where did the BJP’s votes go in 2019? Did you have a hidden alliance with Congress at that time?” Thackeray asked.
Thackeray said Shiv Sena will support Congress in the upcoming bypoll because his party honours the commitment and is not a “back-stabber”.
Taking a swipe at BJP, Thackeray wondered if the Sena voting for a Congress candidate has been dubbed a sin then what to say about BJP’s alliance with PDP leader Mehbooba Mufti in Jammu and Kashmir.
“Does she say ‘Bharat mata ki jai’?” Thackeray asked.
He said if the BJP claims to respect Bal Thackeray then why is that party opposing the proposal to name the upcoming Navi Mumbai international airport after the late Sena founder.
“Why has the BJP gone back on its word and commitment given by (Union Home Minister) Amit Shah in Balasaheb’s room which I consider a temple,” Thackeray asked, in an apparent reference to his claim that BJP had promised the CM’s post to Sena in the 2019 polls.
The issue of sharing the chief minister’s post after the state elections in 2019 led to the break up between the Sena and the BJP.
The Sena went on to join hands with the NCP and the Congress to form the MVA government. The BJP and Shah had rejected Thackeray’s claims regarding the purported promise on the CM’s post.
Slamming BJP, Thackeray said his party has always been committed to the “bhagva” (saffron) and Hindutva “unlike BJP which had different names like Bharatiya Jan Sangh and Jan Sangh”.
“It was Balasaheb Thackeray who showed them (BJP) that saffron and Hindutva will lead them on the road to Delhi,” he said. Thackeray also said that the MVA alliance experiment is successful.
“This is the reason that Sena didn’t stake the claim for the Kolhapur North seat”, he said. In the 2019 assembly elections, Congress candidate Chandrakant Jadhav defeated then Sena MLA Rajesh Kshirsagar to win the Kolhapur North segment. Jadhav’s death necessitated the April 12 byelection.
MVA candidate Jayashree Jadhav, wife of the late Jadhav, will face BJP’s Satyajit Kadam in the bypoll.
