City president of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Ashish Shelar has slammed the INDIA bloc, whose meeting is scheduled to be held on August 31 and September 1 in Mumbai. He told media persons that the opposition alliance was nothing but “a struggle to save the family" in an apparent reference to the Gandhi family of the Congress.
“The meeting is more about ensuring family interests rather than national interests. Hypothetically even if we consider that this alliance comes to power, these people will take their respective parties, the Lok Sabha, and the Rajya Sabha all for a ride. They are painting an illusionary picture. The country and its citizens are aware that national interests cannot be achieved by leaders of this alliance. This struggle is nothing but an attempt to protect and safeguard their families and their parties," he observed.
Shelar slams Thackeray
Shelar also criticised Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Uddhav Thackeray for applauding the scientists of the Chandrayaan-3 mission “only after Pakistan extended its greetings to them?"
“Why didn’t you congratulate the scientists before that? All this while what was it that was bothering you so much? Was there something that India earned, the scientists conquered, the world witnessed but you were not quite satisfied with? Why didn’t you felicitate the scientists? Neither a letter, nor a message, nothing at all?" Shelar asked.
He said Uddhav Thackeray’s public meetings are nothing but a ‘whine’. "His party is left with no policy no ideology is Uddhav Thackeray’s party. BJP leaders never stoop low while talking. And hence we will humbly say, Uddhavji, stay within limits. Bharatiya Janata Party’s honesty is not its weakness. You have reached a stage where you neither have corporators nor MLAs nor MPs. You need to introspect," Shelar added.
Restrictions on Hindu festivals lifted only after BJP's intervention
Shelar also attacked the Shiv Sena (UBT) for not taking up the cause of Hindu festivals. He claimed that the restrictions put on Dahi Handi, Ganesh festival etc. were removed only because of the BJP's intervention. For good measure, he said a big dahi handi festival will be celebrated in Worli, which is the assembly constituency of Aaditya Thackeray.
In an obvious reference to Sena (UBT) M.P. Sanjay Raut's statement on Sunday that the BJP came to the rescue of its M.P. and actor Sunny Deol, whose properties were to be auctioned by Bank of Baroda, but it did not help art director Nitin Desai, who ended his life unable to repay the huge loans he had taken from Edelweiss finance company, Shelar said neither Raut nor Uddhav attended the funeral of Desai and as such they have no moral right to talk about the late director.
