To Uddhav’s ‘progressive Hindutva’ claim, Shinde responds with ‘vote bank’ charge
On Shiv Sena foundation day, Uddhav Thackeray termed the BJP’s Hindutva as ‘regressive’. In response, Eknath Shinde said the Shiv Sena (UBT) “discarded Balasaheb Thackeray’s ideology for vote bank politics”
The 58th foundation day celebrations of the Shiv Sena, the second such since the party’s split, on Wednesday saw a verbal duel between rival factions with former Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray asserting that all patriots, Dalits, Muslims and Christians voted for the Shiv Sena (UBT) and Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA). His rival and Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde said Dalit and Muslim votes for the UBT faction adversely affected his party in the Lok Sabha election.
Both endeavoured to position themselves as the ‘real’ protectors of Bal Thackeray’s Hindutva legacy. While Mr. Thackeray termed the BJP’s Hindutva as ‘regressive’, contrasting it with the ‘progressive’ Hindutva upheld by his party, Mr. Shinde alleged that the UBT faction “discarded Balasaheb Thackeray’s ideology for vote bank politics.”
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“They (BJP) say I left Hindutva (to join hands with Congress and NCP). It is a lie. Every patriot has voted for Shiv Sena and the MVA. BJP has set a false narrative of our party forsaking Hindutva. Do you think I have left Hindutva? If Prime Minister Narendra Modi says that, it means he left Hindutva for power, as he joined hands with TDP and JD(U) who criticised him on several occasions,” Mr. Thackeray said.
Mr. Thackeray challenged Mr. Shinde and the BJP to fight the upcoming Assembly election without using the party’s name, symbol or the photo of his father Bal Thackeray. “My father taught me that there is a difference between arrogance and confidence. When arrogance hits your mind, the man is finished. Prime Minister Modi is arrogant,” he said.
The Sena (UBT) leader said he would never align with those who attempted to “finish off” his party, quashing rumours of a possible reconciliation with the BJP. He predicted the collapse of the Narendra Modi-led NDA government.
Maharashtra CM and Shiv Sena Chief Eknath Shinde addresses the gathering on the party’s Foundation Day, at Worli Dome in Mumbai on June 19, 2024
| Photo Credit:
ANI
Mr. Shinde acknowledged that Dalit and Muslim votes dented his party’s prospects in the election. “They (Shiv Sena UBT) have won due to vote bank. In South Mumbai’s Mirza Ghalib Marg, we got 187 votes, they got 17,816 votes. At places, our votes were in single digits, and they were over 20,000.”
However, the Chief Minister said ‘core voters’ have given a stamp of approval to his June 2022 rebellion as his party’ strike rate was more than the rival Sena. The Sena factions were in a direct contest in 13 Lok Sabha seats of which Mr. Shinde’s Sena won seven and Shiv Sena (UBT) bagged six. “This election, the core voter stayed with us. We got 19% vote share, they (Shiv Sena- UBT) got 14.5%. We are the guardians of Balasaheb’s ideology,” he said.
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Maharashtra
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Shiv Sena-Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray
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Shiv Sena
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state politics