Former PM and JD(S) leader HD Deve Gowda had called Thackeray on Tuesday and invited him for his son’s oath-taking ceremony. However, Thackeray expressed his inability due to prior engagement.
Politics make for strange bedfellows. Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray skipped HD Kumarswamy’s swearing-in ceremony in Karnataka on Wednesday to spend time in his own backyard, to take on Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Aditynath in the Palghar by-poll campaign. Despite being allies in Maharashtra, the Sena is pitted against BJP in the Palghar bypolls that are slated for May 28.
Former PM and JD(S) leader HD Deve Gowda had called Thackeray on Tuesday and invited him for his son’s oath-taking ceremony. However, Thackeray expressed his inability due to prior engagement.
“Uddhavji told him he was very busy with the Palghar bypoll and hence, would not be able to attend the ceremony. These elections are very important for us,” Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut said.
Thackeray’s move comes close on the heels of the widening rift between Shiv Sena and BJP. Thackeray, who has already announced party’s decision to go solo in the coming elections, is stepping up attack against PM Modi and CM Devendra Fadnavis. The Sena chief has repeatedly clarified his party would take up pro-people issues even it means crossing swords with his own ally and partner BJP.
Another Sena MP, who did not want to be identified, said technically the party is part of the BJP-led NDA. “Had Sena president shared the dais with the Opposition parties, BJP would have got a handle to equate us with Modi baiters,” the Sena MP said.
Senior BJP leader and state finance minister Sudhir Mungantiwar recently said that the BJP will not unilaterally approach for pre poll alliance if Sena continues to attack the BJP and reiterates to independently fight next elections. On its part, the Shiv Sena is in no hurry to leave power as it was engaged in organisational build up in the run up to the Lok Sabha and state assembly elections slated for 2019.
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