Thursday, Apr 25, 2024 | Last Update : 07:12 AM IST
Shiv Sena in power with BJP, but to play opposition role
The Sena’s stance appears advantageous, as the party can now conveniently slam the BJP or claim credit for the latter’s decisions.
Mumbai: Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray’s Dussehra rally speech has made it clear that the outfit will act as the main opposition party despite sharing power with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the Maharashtra government. The Sena will question the BJP on all issues concerning the people directly, Mr Thackeray had said, indicating that the rift between the estranged allies will widen further.
The Sena’s stance appears advantageous, as the party can now conveniently slam the BJP or claim credit for the latter’s decisions.
In the rally, held on Saturday at Shivaji Park grounds, Mr Thackeray spoke on issues ranging from Hindutva to Kashmir to the beef ban to the molestation incident at Banaras Hindu University to police harassment over social media posts and the Mumbai University results fiasco. The issues that were supposed to be raised by the Congress and Nationalist Congress Parties were actually highlighted by the Sena chief.
“The Sena was actually chosen as the opposition party by the voters in 2014. But it decided to support the government. However, it has been playing both the roles of opposition and the government. Uddhav and the Shiv Sena have seen opposing many decisions taken by the government like the Goods and Services Tax and (implementation of) the loan waiver. There is no point in asking the Sena why it is not quitting the NDA. If the Sena is not obeying the alliance rules, why can’t the BJP remove it from NDA,” senior journalist Prakash Akolkar asked.
However, Congress and NCP have refused to accept that Shiv Sena it a better opposition party than them. “Opposition does not mean just threatening.
There has to be some constructive movement by the party. We have pursued the government to declare a loan waiver by raising our voice in the Assembly and by conducting rallies across the state. Uddhav Thackeray has no strategy and cannot take any stand. He looks confused to his own party as well as to the people,” NCP spokesperson Nawab Malik said.
