Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena 'betrayed Hindutva' for power after 2019: Amit Shah

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday attacked Shiv Sena for betraying Hindutva for power. Recalling the 2019 assembly elections in Maharashtra, Union Home Minister said that the BJP and its then ally Shiv Sena had then decided that polls would be fought under Devendra Fadnavis' leadership, but the Uddhav Thackeray-led party compromised with the ideology for the Chief Minister's post.

Shah also dared Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray to quit office and fight elections again. In the 2019 assembly poll, BJP and Shiv Sena had contested elections in an alliance. However, after the coalition emerged triumphant, Sena parted ways with BJP over the chief minister's post. Later, Sena formed a government with the support of Congress and NCP.

Addressing the BJP workers, Shah said that he was in Pune during the 2019 Mahararashtra polls and had talks with Shiv Sena. "I want to reiterate that it was decided that the election would be fought under the leadership of Devendra Fadnavis and that the Chief Minister would be from BJP, however, they denied it. They compromised with Hindutva for power," he said.

"If you dare, resign and come and fight against us. The BJP workers are ready. The people of Maharashtra are ready to pay back," he added. Amit Shah that Maharashtra government's fall will begin from the Pune civic poll results.

Shah also accused Congress of corruption during its tenure from 2004 to 2014. "Congress ruled for 10 years, under Sonia Gandhi and Manmohan Singh's leadership. There was a corruption of Rs 12 lakh crore. The economy was destroyed," he said.

'How did scams happen in cooperative banks': Shah takes veiled dig at MVA govt

On Saturday, Union Home Minister Amit Shah raised questions over the alleged scams involving crores of rupees across cooperative banks in Maharashtra. Addressing 'Sahakar Parishad and Krishi Sammelan' organised at Ahmednagar, Shah said that there was a time when cooperative banks in the state were looked up to, but at present, there are only three left. Launching an attack on the MVA government, Shah added"How did scams involving crores of money happen? Did RBI do it? No RBI didn't do it."