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Blow to NCP(SP), Sena (UBT) bids to warm up to Mahayuti as Amit Shah targets Sharad Pawar, Uddhav Thackeray

BJP leadership has remained “deeply hurt” by Uddhav’s 2019 “betrayal” and would now aim to dislodge Sena (UBT) from BMC in coming local body polls

amit shah targets uddhav thackeray and sharad pawarAmit Shah’s hard-hitting remarks also come amid cracks within the MVA following the Assembly polls. (Express file photo)

Union Home Minister Amit Shah has slammed Uddhav Thackeray’s Shiv Sena (UBT) and the Sharad Pawar-led NCP (SP) while reiterating that their respective rival factions – the Eknath Shinde-headed Shiv Sena and the Ajit Pawar-led NCP – are the “real parties”. He was addressing the Maharashtra BJP’s state executive meeting at Shirdi Sunday.

While Shah’s attacks have been seen as “usual” in state political circles, especially given the bitter fight that took place between the ruling Mahayuti and the Opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) in last November’s Assembly polls, his Sunday remarks may have shut the doors on the Sena (UBT) and the NCP (SP), who have been making “overtures” to the Mahayuti after it swept the polls winning 235 of 288 seats.

BJP sources said the party leadership has remained “deeply hurt” by Uddhav’s 2019 “betrayal” and would now aim to dislodge the Sena (UBT) from the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) which has been held by the Sena (UBT) for over three decades. “Shah was especially miffed as Uddhav, while walking out of the NDA in 2019, had painted him as a villain for not honouring the power-sharing formula,” a source said.

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Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis’s emphasis on the coming local body polls too made the BJP’s intent clear. “We cannot lower our guard as the civic polls, which are due in the next three-four months, will require the same hard work, dedication and determination (as the Assembly polls),” Fadnavis told the party conclave at Shirdi, referring to the elections scheduled for 29 municipal corporations, including the BMC.

“The resounding mandate in the BJP’s favour has put an end to the politics of betrayal which Sharad Pawar started in 1978 and was carried forward by Uddhav Thackeray, who compromised on Hindutva principles of Bal Thackeray and joined hands with the Congress and NCP (then undivided) for power in 2019,” Shah told the state party executive, adding that the Assembly poll results left no doubt which factions of the Sena and the NCP were the “real parties”.

Maharashtra has seen political realignments in recent years. After contesting the 2019 Assembly polls, Uddhav’s undivided Sena walked out of the NDA to join hands with the Congress and then undivided NCP to form the MVA government. In 2022, the Shinde faction broke away from the Shiv Sena leading to the fall of the MVA government. A year later, Ajit rebelled and split the NCP and walked into the NDA’s fold.

Despite the pulls and pressures of the ruling coalition, Shah’s attack on Pawar and Uddhav besides the state BJP’s message to its cadre to treat the Sena (UBT), NCP (SP) and Congress as rivals indicated that the BJP was in no mood to “welcome back” its former ally. “In this party, we do not pause. Immediately after the successful Assembly polls, we have already started preparations for local body elections even as our cadre is busy with the membership drive and is reaching out to new areas,” state BJP chief Chandrashekhar Bawankule said Monday.

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Shah’s remarks, however, prompted reactions from the NCP(SP)’s Baramati MP and Pawar Senior’s daughter Supriya Sule and Sena (UBT) MP Arvind Sawant. While Sule said it had become a “trend” to attack Sharad Pawar in a bid to make headlines, Sawant said Shah himself was “no saint” and did not have the moral right to make such statements.

Reacting to the development, a senior Congress leader claimed regional parties are “more flexible”. “They change their stand based on the prevailing circumstances. It also helps the BJP and it (a possible switch) would help it get numbers at the Centre. The BJP too will scout for alternatives if two partners of the NDA were to distance themselves from the alliance,” the leader said.

Both the Sena (UBT) and the NCP(SP), which left no chance to slam Fadnavis in the run-up to the Assembly polls, have seemingly mellowed down after the MVA’s electoral drubbing. During the winter session of the Assembly, Uddhav met Fadnavis while his son and Worli MLA Aaditya Thackeray met the CM thrice to discuss “issues of his constituency”.

Shah’s hard-hitting remarks also come amid cracks within the MVA following the Assembly polls. The Sena (UBT) has announced it will go solo in the local body polls while its mouthpiece “Saamana” as well as Sule have heaped praises on Fadnavis over his January 1 visit to Gadchiroli, where he announced a second steel plant for the district with a Rs 10,000 crore investment. While “Saamana” published an editorial titled “Abhinandan Devabhau (congratulations Devabhau)”, Sule said Fadnavis seemed to be the only leader in “action mode” from day 1 of his third term.

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Speculations made the rounds about a possible realignment when Sena (UBT) Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Raut, who was seen to be one of Fadnavis’s fiercest critics, also praised him. “Why should we not appreciate the CM’s good work? It is laudable if Gadchiroli is heading towards progress by becoming a steel hub,” he had said a day after Fadnavis’ visit.

Last week, Aaditya told the media that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other central ministers would be invited to the inauguration of Bal Thackeray’s memorial, which would be completed by January 26 next year.

As regards the NCP factions, the buzz about their possible merger swirled after Ajit’s mother Asha Pawar visited the Vitthal-Rukmini temple in Pandharpur on January 2 and said she prayed for “all Pawars to unite”. Adding to it was Sharad Pawar’s praise for the RSS, the BJP’s ideological parent, at his party meeting on January 9. “The RSS’ commitment and hard work resulted in a landslide victory for the BJP in the Assembly polls,” he said.

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