Gloves Off! Nitin Gadkari tears into CM Uddhav's 'opportunistic' Sena, alleges betrayal

Campaigning for the Nagpur Zilla Parishad elections on Friday, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari accused the Shiv Sena of betraying its ideology for the sake of power. Mentioning that the BJP-Sena alliance had secured a comfortable majority in the Maharashtra assembly elections, he opined that the Sena formed the Maha Vikas Aghadi to bag the Chief Minister’s post. Moreover, Gadkari contended that the NCP, Shiv Sena, and Congress were opportunistic parties.  

Read: BJP Questions Sena's Silence On Cong's Savarkar Remark, Says 'people Will Not Tolerate'

Nitin Gadkari remarked, “You all know that BJP got 105 seats in the Maharashtra assembly elections. BJP and Shiv Sena had an alliance. They got 56 seats. If you add Sena and BJP’s seats, we got a complete majority. But the Shiv Sena betrayed their ideology for the sake of the post of Chief Minister. To become the Chief Minister, they formed an alliance with NCP and Congress."

"There is no link between the views of Congress, NCP, and the Shiv Sena. All these opportunistic parties came together just to grab power. The Congress party that once upon a time did not even laugh with Shiv Sena, is doing politics with them. This politics is not for ideology, this politics is for vested interests,” he added. 

Read: BJP Dares Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena To Break Silence On Cong's Savarkar Remarks

'People never accept unnatural alliances' 

The Union Minister recalled that unnatural alliances had always been rejected by the people of Maharashtra. Furthermore, he alleged that the Sena had adopted the Congress party’s ideology keeping aside Hindutva. Thereafter, he appealed to the people to vote for BJP in the Zilla Parishad and Panchayat Samiti elections. 

“It is the history of Maharashtra that the people never accept unnatural alliances. Balasaheb Thackeray spoke about the ideology of Hindutva. Keeping the ideology of Hindutva aside, the Shiv Sena has now joined forces with the ideology of Congress. People are upset. And if you want to prove that the shameful alliance is not acceptable, you should ensure the victory of BJP in the Zilla Parishad and Panchayat Samiti elections,” he remarked.  

Read: Shiv Sena Leader Shinde Asserts That Portfolio List Will Be Given To CM To Take Final Call

Uddhav takes oath as CM

After the declaration of the 2019 Maharashtra Assembly elections, there was a tussle between BJP and Shiv Sena as the latter insisted on a rotational formula for the CM post. As the former refused to accept this demand, the Sena commenced talks with NCP and Congress to form an alternative government in the state. These negotiations were successful and Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray took oath as the Maharashtra CM on November 28 in front of thousands of people at Shivaji Park in Mumbai. 

(With ANI inputs)

Read: 'Not Unhappy': Senior Shiv Sena Leader Affirms Loyalty To Party Despite Cabinet Snub