MUMBAI: Over to Lok Sabha post Shiv Sena revolt in Maharashtra Assembly. Indications are that Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray is likely to face yet another mutiny by his party MPs who are reportedly pressuring the leadership for a patch-up with the BJP. Sources said of the 18 Sena Lok Sabha MPs, eight met in Delhi where they decided to persuade the party leadership to resume alliance with the estranged saffron cousin.
“We won the 2019 Lok Sabha elections against Congress and NCP candidates. Five years on, we cannot have an alliance with them. The major problem with the two parties is that we will not be able to transfer our Hindutva votes to them. That will make us look weaker against the BJP,” said a Shiv Sena Lok Sabha MP requested anonymity.
“We have seen the major revolt… New CM Eknath Shinde will definitely break the Sena further to consolidate his position,” said the Sena MP. Calling for a “course correction, repair and cementing of ties with the world’s biggest party,” he said, “We are afraid that without BJP support, we will not win the Lok Sabha polls. Therefore, we are urging our leadership to take the call. But it maintains that the BJP has attacked the Thackeray family,” the MP said.
In the first such attempt, party MP Rahul Shewale on Tuesday wrote to Uddhav asking him to support NDA candidate Droupadi Murmu in the Presidential polls. “We had supported Congress candidate Pratibha Patil and Pranab Mukherjee in the Presidential polls. This time too, we should support Murmu,” Shewale said. The party’s yet another MP Bhavna Gawali also wrote to Uddhav asking him to resume the tie-up with the BJP.
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BJP betrayed; NCP, Cong supported us: Uddhav
Mumbai: Interacting with women party workers, Uddhav said when Shiv Sena agreed to an alliance with Congress and NCP, many people told him not to trust them. “But what happened later is that the two stood by us during the crisis while those whom we trusted (Shinde camp) betrayed us,” said Uddhav.