INDIA bloc's protest against EC, why is BJP jumping to its defence, asks Uddhav Thackeray
Raising the pitch ahead of local body polls expected across Maharashtra over the next few months, he also urged his party members to hit the street, 'not in the Shiv Sena style', but to have dialogues and corner meetings— 'Bhrashtachar pe Charcha' —with the general public to expose the alleged corruption of ministers in the Mahayuti government.
Mumbai: Describing the detention of INDIA bloc MPs during their protest in Delhi as a blot on democracy, Shiv Sena (UBT) president Uddhav Thackeray Monday attacked the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), asking why it was 'defending' the Election Commission when it is being questioned about alleged 'vote theft'.
The Delhi Police Monday detained scores of INDIA bloc MPs including Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi and Rajya Sabha Leader of Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge, during their protest march from Parliament to EC headquarters against the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral roll in poll-bound Bihar and allegations of 'vote theft' during the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
Thackeray also attested to the claim of NCP (SP) president Sharad Pawar that some people approached him before the Maharashtra assembly elections last year with a proposal that they could 'guarantee' the Opposition win 160 of the state's 288 seats, and that the senior leader introduced them to Rahul Gandhi and the two declined their 'offer' holding 'this is not our way'.
Thackeray also spoke about Rahul Gandhi's presentation last week at a press conference detailing the alleged 'vote theft', and said rather than answering the serious questions he raised, the EC is asking Rahul—an elected member of Parliament—to submit his claims on oath.
The Shiv Sena (UBT) president also slammed the EC over the Bihar electoral roll revision and for telling the Supreme Court the commission was not bound to publish a separate list of persons not included in the draft voter list.
'Is the EC now above the SC, or the President? This is an insult to the Supreme Court,' Thackeray said.
'Bhrashtachar pe Charcha'
Thackeray, meanwhile, also spoke at the Shivaji Park where he told his workers to hit the streets ahead of the local body polls and hold 'Bhrashtachar pe Charcha'—taking cue from Prime Minister Narendra Modi's highly successful Chai pe Charcha campaign before the 2014 general elections.
He asked Shiv Sainiks to hit the streets now as they can meet a lot of people during the festive season including on the occasion of Dahi Handi and Ganesh Chaturthi.
'Time has come to now hit the streets, not in the Shiv Sena style, but this time it will be slightly different. You must start discussions around the corruption within the government and highlight the corrupt ministers and their misdeeds,' Thackeray said.
Shiv Sena (UBT) leader and former MP Vinayak Raut elaborated on this plan. 'What this means is that functionaries within the party—men, women, yuva sena—would organise small meetings in Mumbai to highlight the misdeeds of the government. Outside Mumbai, in rural settings, the party expects its workers to sit in farms, at chowks, bazaars, and expose the government,' he said.
'On one hand, ministers are becoming too arrogant on the back of corruption, while the government says it does not have money to give to people for welfare. Our workers would expose this, do the panchnama and start discussions around it. This is the aim of the programme,' Raut said.
While the Congress led the INDIA bloc's protest in Delhi against the alleged 'vote theft', the Sena UBT held agitation at collector offices across various districts in Maharashtra.
The party also talked about other issues including a video purportedly showing NCP minister Manikrao Kokate playing rummy in the legislature, minister Sanjay Shirsat purportedly seen sitting in a room with bags suspected to be full of cash, and Shiv Sena (Shinde camp) MLA Sanjay Gaikwad allegedly assaulting an MLA canteen staff.
Political analyst Hemant Desai feels it is not for no reason that Shiv Sena (UBT) is putting renewed focus on street protests and organised agitation in the state separately from the Congress.
'It is a matter of their survival (for them),' he told ThePrint. 'And from what I know, this has been a longstanding demand of party leaders and workers that they should come out on roads and campaign.'
'From what I understand, they are most likely to go with Raj Thackeray in the upcoming polls and won't take the Congress along. Hence, maybe this protest was done individually by the Sena UBT and not as MVA,' he added.
Targeting just Shinde or Mahayuti govt?
While talking about the alleged corruption within the state government, Uddhav Thackeray specifically took the names of ministers of the Shinde Sena camp, aside from Manikrao Kokate, who is from the NCP(Ajit Pawar).
The Shiv Sena (UBT) protest also involved playing cards to tease Kokate and carrying bags and boxes symbolising Sanjay Shirsat's video where he is purportedly seen with a bag of cash. They even targeted Yogesh Kadam over the alleged links of a dance bar with his mother.
Desai added, 'On the surface it looks like he (Uddhav Thackeray) is targeting only Shinde. That could be possible because he will be mostly fighting against Shinde on most of the seats. But I don't think it means he is softer on (Chief Minister) Fadnavis. The other day in Delhi, he did target Fadnavis as well.'
During the Monday protest, Thackeray questioned the chief minister over the issue of corruption.
'Fadnavis, you have done vote chori and for that INDIA bloc is protesting,' he said. 'In fact, the Congress has given him a good name—not chief minister but 'thief minister'. When someone was caught playing rummy, you just warned him and changed his ministry. The same is the case with others as well,' Thackeray said.
'I want to ask you,' he told the chief minister. 'Why are you not removing these corrupt ministers? Are you being pressured to do so? Then you should come out and say it. Or do you, the biggest party in the world (BJP), not have capable ministers to replace them? You should clarify.'
Vinayak Raut, a former Lok Sabha MP and a part of the core leadership of Shiv Sena (UBT), told ThePrint the party aims to highlight the corruption of the entire government and not specifically one person or party.
'This is against the entire Mahayuti government. It just so happens that unfortunately, we have seen that the tainted ministers are of the Shinde faction only. That is why we had no option but to take the names of the ministers from the Shinde faction. But for us, the entire Mahayuti is a target,' Raut said.
Edited by (Ajeet Tiwari)
Also Read: Fadnavis 'invites' Uddhav to come over to ruling Mahayuti. How Shiv Sena (UBT) chief reacted
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