Sometimes silence is important: Sena on no-trust motion

A day after it stayed away from the no-confidence motion moved against Narendra Modi-led government, the Shiv Sena on Saturday said, “sometimes silence is important".

“Whether we did or not, whether we were present or not, the entire focus was on Sena,” Shiv Sena spokesperson and Rajya Sabha member Sanjay Raut said, adding that Shiv Sena President Uddhav Thackeray took the decision at an “appropriate time”.

The Shiv Sena, which is the oldest ally of the BJP, also went on to praise Congress President Rahul Gandhi and his address in which he had lashed out at the BJP-led NDA on multiple issues.

“Whether we are in government or not, it does not matter, it is what (Shiv Sena founder) Balasaheb (Thackeray) told us…we never run for power,” Raut told a Marathi news channel during a chat. “We did not speak (by abstaining from the proceedings of Lok Sabha) but the message went across…sometimes silence is important,” he said.

“In fact, what people spoke (in the floor of the House) we have been saying it from the last four to four-and-a-half-years,” he said, adding that when demonetisation happened, the first person to come out in support was TDP founder N Chandrababu Naidu, however, it was Uddhav Thackeray who opposed it the very next day.

Asked about the fiasco about the whip issued by Chandrakant Khaire, he evaded a direct answer. “Uddhav Thackeray is the President of our party…he took the decision at the appropriate moment, his phone was ringing throughout the day…everyone wanted to speak to him….you may recall when (former Prime Minister) Atal Bihari Vajpayee faced the no-confidence motion and got defeated…(BSP supremo) Mayawati took the decision in the last three minutes,” he said.

He also refused to confirm or deny whether Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh or BJP President Amit Shah reached out to Thackeray ahead of the no-confidence motion.

Raut, who is also the executive editor of Saamana, the Marathi mouthpiece of Shiv Sena, said that Gandhi has proved he is a “successful politician” and he has succeeded in his game.

Asked about Gandhi’s hug to Modi and the subsequent wink, he said: “The prime minister had gone to Pakistan and hugged Nawaz Sharif… what happened? but when Rahul hugged Modi, everyone was surprised….it showed that he is a successful politician….and the wink (to his colleagues) show that he was successful.”

Raut also said that the NDA during the tenure of Vajpayee and during the time of Modi-Shah combine is different, those days there were relations, it was not business,” he said.