Mumbai: At a press conference in Mumbai on June 6, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut commented on Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra Devendra Fadnavis’s resignation proposal, calling it mere drama and launched a sharp attack on the leader by calling him the “villain of Maharashtra politics” and accused him for the BJP’s downfall in the state. Sanjay Raut remarked that they are all students of Prime Minister Modi, who himself uses emotions like crying and smiling to advance his political career. Additionally, he stated that the people of Maharashtra have rejected Devendra Fadnavis’s politics.
Tag: UBT
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Shiv Sena: Days after Ambedkar snapped ties with Shiv Sena (UBT), Sanjay Raut says MVA hasn’t lost hope in VBA chief
Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut on Monday said Maha Vikas Aghadi has not lost hope in Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi chief Prakash Ambedkar, days after the latter called off the tie-up with the Uddhav Thackeray-led party in Maharashtra. Raut claimed public support is with MVA whose electoral victory would have been grand had VBA come along.
Talking to reporters, Raut said Ambedkar should have accepted MVA’s proposal of four seats for Lok Sabha elections, but the Opposition camp has not lost hopes on the VBA.
“There is public support for MVA. Our victory would have been grand had Balasaheb (Prakash) Ambedkar been with us. But this does not mean we are dependent on them,” he said. Noting that Ambedkar is a respectable leader with a good party organisation, Raut said MVA leaders held discussions and kept requesting him.
“He should have accepted the (MVA) proposal. But we still have not lost hope on him,” he added.
Ambedkar on Saturday said he was calling off the alliance with Shiv Sena (UBT) and would declare his next move on March 26. “I am giving back their four seats,” he said on Monday. Contesting the MVA’s claim, the Dalit leader said VBA was officially offered only three seats including Akola.
Ambedkar had virtually blamed Uddhav Thackeray for the break down of the 14-month-old alliance.
“I had asked Uddhav Thackeray that Shiv Sena (UBT) and VBA should first sit together and chalk out strategy for a joint political path, but that didn’t happen. The VBA alliance with Sena (UBT) doesn’t exist any longer,” he had said.
Ambedkar had also claimed that the internal strife in MVA allies- Shiv Sena (UBT), NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar), and Congress- doesn’t seem to end.
The VBA had affected the prospects of UPA candidates in Nanded, Solapur, Hatkanangale, Beed, Parbhani and Sangli seats, to name a few, in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, which ultimately helped NDA.
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Shiv Sena: Why no Bharat Ratna for Savarkar: Shiv Sena (UBT) slams Centre
The Shiv Sena (UBT) on Wednesday attacked the BJP-led Centre for not conferring Bharat Ratna, the country’s highest civilian award, on Hindutva ideologue V D Savarkar. Addressing a news conference, Sena (UBT) leader and Rajya Sabha member Sanjay Raut called the Centre’s decision to honour former Bihar chief minister Karpoori Thakur with the award posthumously a political move.
Since the Narendra Modi government took charge in Delhi (in 2014), 11 people have been conferred the highest civilian award, but Savarkar has not found a place on the list, said Raut.
Thakur was named for the Bharat Ratna on Tuesday on the eve of the birth centenary of the fountainhead of OBC (other backward classes) politics in Bihar. Thakur, who passed away in 1988, was the first non-Congress socialist leader who became chief minister twice – first for seven months in December 1970 and later for two years in 1977.
“Our position remains the same that Veer Savarkar should be given the Bharat Ratna. Karpoori Thakur is a leader of the OBC and we are happy that he has been named for the Bharat Ratna,” Raut said.
Since it is a poll season, Bihar is important for the BJP, Raut said. Bihar, which sends 40 MPs to the Lok Sabha, is currently governed by Janata Dal (United) and Rashtriya Janata Dal. “BJP’s every step is for political selfishness. Key people who participated in the freedom struggle are honoured but why is Savarkar not conferred on Bharat Ratna? Why is BJP fleeing from conferring Bharat Ratna on him,” Raut asked. A polarising figure in modern Indian history, Savarkar is known as “Swatantryaveer” and is revered among several quarters in the country, especially Maharashtra, for his contribution to the freedom struggle.
However, critics charge him as a hard-line Hindutva leader.
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Uddhav Thackeray: My detractors see me in their dreams, know people of Maharashtra are with me: Uddhav Thackeray
Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray on Sunday said his detractors see him in their dreams despite stealing the party’s name and symbol and also know the people of Maharashtra are with him. The former chief minister was addressing supporters at his residence ‘Matoshree’ in Bandra in the western part of the metropolis.
“Despite stealing my party’s name and symbol, detractors see me in their dreams. They know Uddhav Thackeray is not alone, all of Maharashtra is with him,” the Shiv Sena (UBT) chief said.
“Love and affection are not for sale. These emotions cannot be purchased,” Thackeray asserted. Referring to some political workers rejoining Shiv Sena (UBT) in Ulhasnagar, part of Thane district, which is a stronghold of Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, Thackeray said the battle ahead was but struggles can be overcome with all loyalists sticking together and fighting.
Speaking on the inauguration of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya on January 22, Thackeray said that day he would offer prayers at Kalaram Temple in Nashik and perform ‘maha aarti’ on the banks of Godavari river.
He also said he would tour Kalyan Lok Sabha seat, which is represented by Shrikant Shinde, the son of CM Shinde. The Shiv Sena split in June 2022 after Shinde and several MLAs revolted, bringing down the MVA government under Thackeray.
Shinde’s outfit was given the ‘Shiv Sena’ name and ‘bow and arrow’ symbol by the Election Commission of India.