Shiv Sena (UBT) Mocks Shinde\'s Decision to Campaign\' for BJP in 4 States

Mumbai: The Shiv Sena (UBT) on Monday criticised Maharashtra chief minister Eknath Shinde’s decision to campaign' for the Bharatiya Janata Party in four poll bound states. The Uddhav Thackeray-led party said that the decision proves that Shinde never understood the Shiv Sena ideology.

“Balasaheb Thackeray or Uddhav Thackeray were definitely in the National Democratic Alliance. Vajpayee-Advani took power in Delhi. For this, the Shiv Sena chief also got strong support from Maharashtra, but he did not go to other states and work for the BJP,” the editorial in Shiv Sena (UBT) mouthpiece Saamana said.

It also compared the Maharashtra CM with a character of ‘Allabaksh’ from iconic Marathi play ‘Ekach Pyala’ (Only one glass) written by Ram Ganesh Gadkari. In the play, Allabaksh engages in an ideological debate with another charector after consuming alcohol and finally agrees with the opposing ideology.

"It is also interesting that Shinde was never known for coherent thoughts. He could never understand the thoughts of Shiv Sena and the role of Shiv Sena chief Balasaheb Thackeray, that is why he is going to work for BJP's campaign in five states,” the editorial said.

Shiv Sena MP Rahul Shewale last week announced that the Maharashtra CM will campaign for the BJP in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Telangana.

Mocking Shinde, the Saamana editorial said it is a it a joke that Shinde is going to campaign in four states while being "afraid of holding municipal elections in Maharashtra". “It makes sense for Shinde to campaign in four states. He and his team will campaign in four states, but the same people are afraid of holding elections in 14 municipal corporations including Mumbai and Thane," it said.