Thackeray Jr breaks Sangh’s silence: Gujarat cost us dear

His father blamed the disinvestment policy and tom-tomming of the India Shining theme for the NDA’s defeat. Now the son has thrown in a...

His father blamed the disinvestment policy and tom-tomming of the India Shining theme for the NDA’s defeat. Now the son has thrown in an additional factor: Gujarat.

Speaking to The Indian Express at Bal Thackeray’s Matoshree office, Shiv Sena executive president Uddhav Thackeray said apart from the policies of the Vajpayee-led government, it was the ‘‘Gujarat factor’’ that played a key role, ‘‘distancing the minority community and others from the Sena-BJP combine.’’ This, he said, played a role in the NDA defeat and the poor performance of Sena candidates in Mumbai.—the party’s traditional stronghold. Uddhav said that besides the Gujarat riots, the urban middle class had also been alienated by the government’s policies on privatisation, labour reforms and falling interest rates on small savings schemes.

He said he had begun assessing the reasons for the defeat in Mumbai of five of the six saffron combine nominees: ‘‘Stalwarts like Manohar Joshi, Union Ministers Ram Naik and Jaywantiben Mehta lost. Their defeat shocked us. We will have to examine where we went wrong and take corrective steps.’’

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Elsewhere in Maharashtra, the combine’s performance was spectacular. In Vidarbha and Marathwada, which were perceived to be Congress citadels, the Sena-BJP alliance won all except two seats.

In terms of votes polled, the combine has improved its performance compared to the last Lok Sabha elections, with the percentage increasing from 38 in 1999 to 44.57. The Congress-NCP’s percentage reduced from 51.27 per cent to 46 per cent.

Thackeray claimed the results were not a major setback for the Sena-BJP. ‘‘Parties like TDP and AIADMK were completedly wiped out in the polls. That did not happen with the Sena-BJP. It would be wrong to say that the saffron combine was rejected,’’ he said.

Uddhav said he was drafting a new strategy for the approaching Assembly polls. ‘‘Issues such as drought and problems of farmers and labourers are still alive. Sonia Gandhi’s decision to stay away from power will not help Chief Minister Sushilkumar Shinde retain power.’’

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