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Under Modi, both BJP and Sena were growing, say rebels urging Uddhav to renew ties

In an open letter to Uddhav Thackeray, rebel camps blamed Sanjay Raut for the crisis
Last Updated 27 June 2022, 16:06 IST

Under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, “ideologically similar” Bharatiya Janata Party and Shiv Sena were growing in Maharashtra, the rebel faction said urging party chief Uddhav Thackeray to “renew” ties with its old ally. Deepak Kesarkar, one of the rebel MLAs, wrote this in an open letter to Thackeray, in which he also blamed Shiv Sena spokesperson Sanjay Raut for the saffron party’s current crisis.

The statement, also a collective plea from the Eknath Shinde camp that is currently holed up in Guwahati, is an indication of what is in store in the coming days. The breakaway faction wanted Thackeray to cut off all ties with the Nationalist Congress Party and the Indian National Congress.

“PM Modi and the BJP’s central and state leadership has tremendous respect for Hindu Hrudaya Samrat Shiv Sena Pramukh Balasaheb Thackeray,” Kesarkar said in a four-page note addressed to Thackeray.

The rebel camp accused Raut of distancing Thackeray from them. According to Kesarkar, Balasaheb Thackeray’s basic mantra of Hindutva was most important for them. “Even if we die, we would like to die fighting to safeguard Hindutva,” he said in the statement that he also posted on Twitter.

Kesarkar said the MLAs moved themselves to Guwahati to strengthen Shiv Sena’s true voice. “This is why we are telling that this is not a rebellion but a fight for Shiv Sena’s self-respect,” he said, pointing out that the Shiv Sainiks spent their lives fighting NCP and Congress.

He also referred to the Lok Sabha elections of 2014 and 2019—and all that happened in between, before and after—between the decades-old saffron allies.

Kesarkar said that Raut, even while Shiv Sena was in the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance, as a Rajya Sabha member used to criticise BJP leadership. “The leadership took no cognizance, and the criticism using indecent words continued every day. The kind of cheap and harsh language uttered by Raut every day was not even used by the Congress, the NCP or (any) other Opposition parties in the country,” he said.

Kesarkar alleged that the NCP-Congress was shaking the foundation of Shiv Sena by demolishing the work of ages. “All in all, we were in the government, and we were only the opposition,” he said.

He noted that Balasaheb had not only taken a decisive stand, but also invited Kashmiri Pandits to Maharashtra. “When Article 370 was abolished, our leaders were not able to speak openly,” he said.

“Should we leave our self-esteem to go to please Sharad Pawar and Sonia Gandhi? All the important portfolios to be given away to NCP and Congress, (but) keeping (only) the CM’s post,” he said.

According to Kesarkar, Raut, who hadn’t been elected by the people, was all out to finish the party. “Sanjay Raut is NCP's blue-eyed boy. You may succeed in distancing Shiv Sena from the BJP. But if you are trying to distance Shiv Sena from Hindutva, how do you expect it to be tolerated? … NCP fires from Raut’s shoulder. And who does the bullet hit? Not enemies of the party but loyalists like us,” Kesarkar said, pointing out that the Shiv Sena was being run on Raut’s advice.

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(Published 27 June 2022, 16:06 IST)

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