A day after Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray claimed Shiv Sena wasted 25 years due to its alliance with BJP and BJP’s opportunistic Hindutva was only for power, the Leader of Opposition Devendra Fadnavis on Monday slammed Thackeray saying Shiv Sena’s Hindutva is merely on paper and does not go beyond speeches. Recalling that Balasaheb Thackeray was the leader of the BJP-Shiv Sena alliance until 2012, Fadnavis questioned whether the CM is questioning the wisdom of his own father in keeping this tie-up intact.
Fadnavis said under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, a Ram temple is being built in Ayodhya. Modi also developed the Kashi Vishwanath temple corridor. However, he claimed that the Shiv Sena, which is heading the Maha Vikas Aghadi government in Maharashtra, could not even rename Aurangabad as Sambhajinagar, and Osmanabad as Dharashiv. ‘’But Allahabad was renamed as Prayagraj under the BJP government in Uttar Pradesh while the Shiv Sena is reiterating only promises without its fulfillment,’’ he noted.
"Who all from the Shiv Sena participated in the Ram Janmabhoomi movement? We are the ones who took bullets and lathis in the movement. Your (Shiv Sena) Hindutva is merely on paper," said Fadnavis.
He also took a dig at Shiv Sena for tolerating the alliance with Congress even as its leaders did not acknowledge the stature of the late Balasaheb Thackeray. "Get Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi to post one tweet regarding Balasaheb Thackeray. This is powerlessness. When you garland their photos and they feel ashamed to tweet about the birth anniversary of Balasaheb Thackeray, you still sit with them for the sake of power," he said.
Fadnavis reminded Shiv Sena that ‘’In the 1993 polls it had fielded 180 candidates in UP when your wave was prevalent. Out of which,179 lost their deposits. In 1996, they fielded 24 candidates out of which 23 lost their deposits. In 2002, 49 candidates were fielded and all of them lost their deposits. So, you did fight the polls but people rejected you. Because people knew that karsevaks and RSS people were active in the Ram Janmabhoomi campaign."
Raut responds to Fadnavis’ attack
Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut retorted Fadnavis’ charge that his party’s Hindutva was on paper saying that for Shiv Sena Hindutva was a matter of faith not politics. "Hindutva is not a political issue. It's a matter of faith and culture. If BJP feels that they are the proprietors of Hindutva then they are mistaken," he said.
Raut also took on Fadnavis on his claim that it was the BJP workers who died during the Ram Janmabhoomi movement. ‘’Shiv Sena's contribution in the Babri mosque demolition was evident from the fact that Balasaheb Thackeray was summoned by the CBI. "If we had no contribution in Babri mosque demolition, then why was Balasaheb summoned in CBI court? Our leaders were in jail. There were people from all parties; I won't say that it was just Shiv Sena. Weren't Shivsainiks karsevaks?" he asked. Raut said Shiv Sena saved people for protecting Hindutva.
On the issue of renaming cities, Raut said that Fadnavis was also a chief minister then why did he not rename the cities during his tenure.
