Shiv Sena urges Rahul Gandhi to learn from Pawar but says 'no outcome from anti-BJP meet'

Playing down Sharad Pawar's 'Rashtra Manch' meeting of anti-BJP leaders, Shiv Sena on Thursday, claimed that it failed to offer a strong opposition leadership to counter the BJP. Sena, via its mouthpiece Saamana, said that while no lead Opposition has emerged from this meeting, the anti-BJP gathering chaired by Sharad Pawar gave an idea to a combined Opposition against BJP. Taking a swipe at ex-Congress chief Rahul Gandhi, Sena urged the Gandhi scion to hold such meetings to revive the 'dead' Opposition.

Sena takes a jibe at Congress & Rashtra Manch

Sena pointed out that the Modi-Shah duo have recently faced defeat at several state polls at the hands of Hemant Soren (Jharkhand), Uddhav Thackeray (Maharashtra), Mamata Banerjee (Bengal), Pinaryi Vijayan (Kerala), MK Stalin (Tamil Nadu), Tejashwi Yadav (Bihar). Inspite of this, none of these parties attended the 'Rashtra Manch' meeting. Lauding Pawar for uniting all anti-BJP forces, Sena once again pitched for his leadership of a UPA-like alliance.

Pawar chairs 'Rashtra Manch' meet

On Tuesday, NCP Supremo Sharad Pawar chaired a 2.5-hour meeting at his 6 Janpath residence in New Delhi to provide an 'alternative vision' that India needed in the form of the 'Rashtra Manch'. The Manch which was founded by ex-BJP leaders Yashwant Sinha and Shatrughan Sinha as a bid to join anti-BJP forces in 2018,  released a statement saying the meeting was called to discuss what role the Rashtra Manch can play to improve the political, economic, social environment in the country. The meeting chaired by Pawar was attended by several top politicians such as Yashwant Sinha, ex-JD(U) MP Pawan Verma, AAP MP Sanjay Singh, CPI general secretary D Raja, NC president Farooq Abdullah, Justice (retd.) AP Singh, poet & MP Javed Akhtar, senior advocate KTS Tulsi, journalists Karan Thapar, NCP MP Majeed Memon, NCP MP Vandana Chavan MP, ex-Chief Election Commissioner SY Qureshi, Sanjay Jha, SP leader Ghanshyam Tiwari, ex-MPs Pritish Nandy, Nilopal Basu, and RLD leader Jayant Choudhary. The absence of Congress leaders has raised several eyebrows of a third-front opposition; this was shot down by the Manch.

Congress Vs Sena

Rupturing the Maha Vikas Agahadi alliance, Maharashtra Congress chief Nana Patole has made it clear that Congress will contest all local body and assembly elections separately going forward. Addressing Congress workers in Amravati's Tivasa, he asked, 'Don't you want to make Nana Patole as CM in 2024?'. In retaliation, Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut announced that if need be the Sena can contest polls alone. "If we do not offer solutions to people's problems but only talk about going alone in politics, people will beat us with footwear," said Sena Supremo Uddhav Thackeray.