Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray on Sunday slammed the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), stating that its policy of undermining other political parties is not sustainable.
Thackeray also targeted the saffron party over its first Lok Sabha candidates list for including figures like Kripashankar Singh, previously accused of money laundering. He also expressed surprise at the exclusion of senior leaders like Nitin Gadkari from the list.
Singh was nominated to contest from Jaunpur, Uttar Pradesh, in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, as announced by the BJP on Saturday. The ruling party did not release its candidates for the 48 Lok Sabha seats in Maharashtra.
"Referring to the list, he highlighted his past collaboration with Union Minister Gadkari, who had expedited the completion of the Mumbai-Pune expressway, a project initiated by Shiv Sena founder Balasaheb Thackeray.
Singh's history includes leading the Mumbai unit of Congress and serving as a Minister of State for Home. He parted ways with the Congress in 2019 due to disagreements regarding the party's stance on the abrogation of Jammu and Kashmir's special status by the NDA government. He later joined the BJP in 2021. Responding to Thackeray's remarks, Singh dismissed them, questioning the political credibility of someone without their own party.
"I don't take remarks of a person who doesn't have a political party of his own and did attend office at the Mantralaya for even two- and-half days in his tenure of 2.5 years as chief minister, seriously," he said.
Meanwhile, Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut targeted Maharashtra's Deputy CMs Devendra Fadnavis (BJP) and Ajit Pawar (NCP) over Singh's inclusion in the BJP list.
Raut pointed out Fadnavis's earlier claims about prosecuting leaders like Ajit Pawar and Kripashankar Singh, raising doubts about the BJP's governance standards.
Regarding the future political landscape in Maharashtra, Raut emphasised the unity between the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) and Prakash Ambedkar-led Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA) workers to counter the BJP and prevent potential authoritarian rule post-2024. The MVA comprises the Shiv Sena (UBT), NCP-Sharadchandra Pawar and Congress.
(With PTI inputs)
