Shiv Sena mocks ally BJP before Shah- Thackeray meet

In an attempt to mollify and woo their oldest allies, BJP President Amit Shah was set to meet the Shiv Sena leader Uddhav Thackeray today.

Hours before a crucial meeting between the leaders of the bickering allies, the Shiv Sena mocked BJP chief Amit Shah’s ‘Sampark for Samarthan’ drive, hinting at plans to go solo in the 2019 Lok Sabha and Maharashtra Assembly elections.

In an editorial published in party mouthpiece Saamana, the Shiv Sena said the general elections next year could be one of the “motives” behind Shah’s outreach programme. “The Narendra Modi government has lost its touch with those on its side and it is ideal for it to look for the reasons behind it,” the editorial said. 

It also mocked the BJP’s “reliance on poster boys” to win elections, asking if the BJP chief would meet former ally and TDP chief Chandrababu Naidu as part of his ‘Sampark for Samarthan’.

“Despite saam, daam, dand, bhed, Modi and Amit Shah are dreaming of winning 350 seats in Lok Sabha on their own steam. Modi and Shah are implementing an outreach and communication program at the international and national level. Their skills are highly appreciable.”

READ ALSO: MLA’s new controversy: compares government officials with prostitutes

Taking on the central government over the petrol rate hike and farmers’ agitations across the country, the editorial said, “At a time when petrol prices have agitated the country and farmers are on strike, the government’s dialogue with the farmer isn’t happening.”

The editorial has been published on a day when Uddhav Thackeray and Amit Shah are scheduled to meet in Mumbai in the aftermath of the Palghar and Bhandara-Gondiya Lok Sabha by-elections, for which the allies parted ways. 

The relations between the two partners plummeted to a new low when Shiv Sena ‘hijacked’ Shriniwas Vanga – the son of late BJP MP Chintaman Vanga from Palghar – and gave him the party ticket for the May 28 Palghar Lok Sabha by-polls.

A raging BJP inducted former Congressman Rajendra Gavit, who defeated Vanga.

In a guarded initial reaction, Sena MP and spokesperson Sanjay Raut pointed out how the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) partners were not satisfied with the BJP and leaving it one by one.

But he refused to speculate whether the Sena would reconsider its oft-repeated stance of going solo in all future elections and pointed out that the party did extremely well and showed its strength in Palghar which it contested for the first time ever.

With a year to go for the 2019 Lok Sabha Elections, Shah has launched a new outreach programme which involves meetings and photo opportunities with eminent personalities across different fields. The campaign, called ‘Sampark for Samarthan’, is aimed at urging the eminent personalities to campaign for the BJP ahead of the elections and talk about the government’s good work.

So far, Shah has met former army chief General Dalbir Singh Suhag, former cricket captain Kapil Dev, yoga guru Ramdev and former Chief Justice of India RC Lohati. On Wednesday, he is also scheduled to meet actor Madhuri Dixit, industrialist Ratan Tata and singer Lata Mangeshkar.