"I am upset with party over the "insult meted out to the Maratha mothers and sisters". said Kailash Pungale, chief of Shiv Sena in Bhokardan taluka.
A revolt is brewing in the Shiv Sena over a cartoon published in party's mouthpiece, Saamna, alluding to the 'silent march' being taken out by the Maratha community. Some of its Maratha leaders have openly come out against party supremo Uddhav Thackeray and are set to quit the party in the coming days.
Bhaskarrao Bhange from Marathwada, Ravi Raj (corporator) from Dhule and Ashok Khedkar from Buldhana have already submitted their resignations to the Sena chief. Also, stones were pelted at Saamna press in Navi Mumbai even as burning of the newspaper and blackening of Sena hoardings were reported from across Maharashtra.
Kailash Pungale, chief of Shiv Sena in Bhokardan taluka, told dna that he is upset with his party over the "insult meted out to the Maratha mothers and sisters".
"Our community people are fighting for their rights and Sena is demeaning them. I have been associated with the Sena since 1987, but today I have decided 'not any more' and has submitted my resignation," Pungale said.
Saamna's Sunday supplement had published the cartoon, which started making rounds on social media. The toon showed a couple kissing amidst a rally and said it's rather 'mooka morcha' (kiss rally) rather than 'mook morcha' (silent rally).
"This has angered the community members. We were silently protesting for the past 15 days, without raising slogans against any particular caste or religion. We even cleaned the roads in the end so that the local authorities do not suffer," said Lilaladhar Patil, a Maratha Seva Sangh leader from North Maharashtra.
The protests were aimed to press for capital punishment to Kopardi rape and murder accused, seek reservation and implementation of Dr Swaminathan report so that farmers get fair price to their produce.
"There was no need to make fun of the Maratha women in cartoon. Uddhav Thackeray should have apologised and ended the matter. But he refused. It shows that he is against Maratha community and used them for mere political gains. The community members will now teach him a lesson," Patil said.
Caught on the back-foot, the Shiv Sena on Tuesday night issued a statement saying that party president Uddhav Thackeray had declared his support for the morchas. The statement, signed by industries minister Subhash Desai, accused opposition leaders Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil (Congress) and Dhananjay Munde (NCP) for aggravating the situation. The Sena had earlier claimed that anti-social elements were fanning the controversy over the cartoon.
Shiv Sena leaders and state minister Eknath Shinde also met party ministers and legislators on Tuesday to discuss how to deal with the fallout of the controversy.
Meanwhile, Congress state president Ashok Chavan and leader of Opposition in state assembly Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil condemned Saamna and demanded a public apology from Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray over the issue.
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