Prepare to face questions over 2014 poll promises: Shiv Sena to BJP

Mumbai: The Shiv Sena has asked the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to be ready to face questions over promises made during its campaign for the 2014 general elections. The party in an editorial in party mouthpiece Saamana on Tuesday said that the people would ask questions ranging from the situation in Kashmir to the construction of the Ram temple, as neither issue has been resolved as yet.

The editorial read, “The BJP had secured a big victory in 2014 after promising to usher in peace in the Kashmir Valley and build the Ram temple. However, both issues remain unresolved. The BJP should have answers ready when the people ask questions.

The Sena also claimed the people have reservations about the use of electronic voting machines (EVMs) in elections. “Why the insistence on using EVMs in elections when all countries have stopped using them due to their faulty nature and the fact that they can be controlled by money power?” it asked.

Slamming the BJP, the Sena said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and chief minister Devendra Fadnavis were busy with inaugurations, announcements and giving the green signal to projects till the last minute and even though the model code of conduct has come into force, “it's applicable to all except the Prime Minister and chief ministers”.

“Until now, the Prime Minister was doing his Mann ki Baat; but now the peoples' ‘Mann ki Baat’ will be out on May 23,” the editorial said. It further stated that history says that people cannot be fooled for long. Even the people have questions, the answers to which they seek through ballot boxes, it said.