Launching a blistering attack on the Opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), Union Home Minister and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Amit Shah on April 11 dubbed the MVA a directionless autorickshaw comprised of fake Shiv Sena and NCP factions, and a half-dead Congress.
Addressing a public rally in Nanded, Mr. Shah, who was campaigning for incumbent MP Prataprao Chikhalikar, again targeted the Congress for playing politics over the Ram Mandir consecration ceremony.
“I can understand that the Congress actively delayed the construction of the Ram Mandir because it was scared of its vote bank. But why did not the Congress leadership go when it was invited for the Ram Temple consecration ceremony. The party even expelled those Congress members who wanted to attend the ceremony,” Mr. Shah alleged.
He reserved his harshest criticism for the MVA in Maharashtra, claiming it would break apart owing to their differences soon after the Lok Sabha election.
“This MVA is a directionless autorickshaw. A false Shiv Sena, a false NCP, and a half-alive Congress have come together to take on a strong NDA under Modiji’s leadership. Uddhav Thackeray’s Shiv Sena (UBT) and Sharad Pawar’s NCP (SP) have also finished off the Congress. The MVA’s future is clear - post-elections it will crack under the weight of their differences,” the Union Home Minister said.
Stating that already Mr. Thackeray’s and Mr. Pawar’s parties were halved (following respective splits within them), Mr. Shah claimed that the two allies had now halved the Congress as well. He was alluding to tensions within the MVA following the finalisation of the seat-sharing deal, which saw an upset local Congress leadership at loggerheads with the Sena (UBT) and the NCP (SP) for declaring candidates unilaterally on seats like Sangli and Bhiwandi.
“How can these three half-entities develop Maharashtra. Maharashtra’s development can only be carried out by Narendra Modi, CM Eknath Shinde, and Devendra Fadnavis,” Mr. Shah said, listing the achievements of the Mahayuti government in improving the lot of farmers, and in providing tap water and foodgrains to the poor.
Targeting Sharad Pawar once again, Mr. Shah said that despite the NCP (SP) chief being such a tall leader of Maharashtra, the latter had failed to develop the State, and that it was only Mr. Modi who could ensure overall development.
Mr. Shah reiterated that it was the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena-BJP government that had fulfilled late Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray’s dream of renaming Aurangabad and Osmanabad districts to Sambhajinagar and Dharashiv respectively.
“Balasaheb wanted to rename them, but had been opposed by Sharad Pawar. So, when the BJP successfully did it, Uddhav Thackeray was not pleased,” Mr. Shah said.
Meanwhile, the occasion saw the coming together of once-bitter political foes – ex-Congress CM-turned BJP Rajya Sabha MP Ashok Chavan, and Mr. Chikhalikar.
Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Chavan said while it was true the two leaders fought against each other when they were in different parties, they had now come together in an atmosphere of amity, with the common intent of ensuring that Narendra Modi became PM for the third term. Mr. Chavan had won the Nanded Lok Sabha seat in 2014 when he was in the Congress, but had been trounced in the 2019 Lok Sabha election by Mr. Chikhalikar.
Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis said that “a new record” would set for the Nanded because “the two forces” [Mr. Chavan and Mr. Chikhalikar] had come together.
