BJP questions Uddhav Thackeray's silence on Savarkar, Muslim quota

The BJP on Saturday hit out at Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray over his claim that his party, the Shiv Sena, had walked away from the NDA but not from the ideology of Hindutva.

Visiting Ayodhya for the first time after he became chief minister, Thackeray said earlier in the day that he might have parted ways with the BJP (but) not with Hindutva, and "BJP and Hindutva are different".

The BJP asked why he and his party were silent on certain issues such as comments of Congress leaders berating Vinayak Damodar Savarkar.

"Why did you keep quiet when a bust of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj was removed by the (Congress-led) Madhya Pradesh government?" the state BJP asked on Twitter.

The administration of Sausar in Chhindwara district last month removed a bust of Shivaji using a JCB machine, saying it had been installed without permission.

"Why do you keep quiet when the Congress insults (Hindutva ideologue) Savarkar? Why are you giving quota to the Muslim community?" the state BJP tweeted further.

Maharashtra Minority Affairs Minister and NCP leader Nawab Malik recently announced in the Legislative Council that the state government had proposed to give five per cent quota to Muslims in government educational institutes.

Thackeray, however, said later that he had not received the proposal and no decision had been taken.

State BJP leader Sudhir Mungantiwar also took potshots at Thackeray, saying that Lord Ram had given blessings to the former allies (BJP and Sena) together, and not to current ruling parties in the state (Shiv Sena, Congress and NCP).

"We have never known Lord Ram as someone who loves power. The only Ram we remember is the one who went into exile for 14 years to keep a promise," he said.

"It is for that party (Sena) to decide whether it was a visit to seek blessings of the Lord or admit before him that a mistake was committed (by joining hands with the Congress and NCP)," Mungantiwar added.