Shiv Sena on Tuesday took on leader of opposition Devendra Fadnavis over his recent address to north Indians, saying his Ram bhakti was superficial and that he behaved like Vibhishan (younger brother of Ravana). An editorial in Sena mouthpiece Saamana said till Shiv Sena and the Thackerays were there, nobody could “bite off” Mumbai and Vidarbha from Maharashtra.
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Fadnavis at his rally on May 15 targeted chief minister Uddhav Thackeray and said he would not rest until he brought down the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government.
The editorial said when Lord Ram was in exile, he resided in Panchvati, Nashik, and Ramtek, Nagpur. “But Nagpur’s Fadnavis has not inculcated the value of satya vachan; he only speaks what is untrue. When Lord Ram had to let go of the rule, he accepted it. His frustration is not recorded in the [epic] Ramayana. Sita too accepted the decision, which was important. But Fadnavis’ Ram bhakti is superficial. He takes the name of Lord Ram but behaves like Vibhishan. Since Fadnavis has got frustrated, the level of politics in Maharashtra has gone down.”
Maharashtra BJP chief spokesperson Keshav Upadhye asked if they were Vibhishan, was Sena Ravana? “Vibhishan was a follower of Ram. Despite being with Ravana, he never stopped Ram bhakti. He joined Lord Ram after the atrocities by Ravana… All these years, you were with Vibhishan; then are you Ravana? You have taken the state’s affairs into the abyss by joining hands with the corrupt. There are extortions, illegal transfers, and murders. This Vibhishan is fighting to bring down your ego-filled Lanka and bring ‘Ram Rajya’ in Maharashtra,” he said in a series of tweets.
Ahead of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections, the Sena had raked the old issue, claiming the BJP-led Centre intended to make Mumbai a union territory. Thackeray at his May 14 rally said nobody could take away Mumbai.
“Sena has sacrificed and the entire Thackeray clan has struggled with a lionheart and therefore Maharashtra stands strong before Delhi. Fadnavis and his masters are all dreaming of biting off Mumbai from the state… Today, nobody could dare to take away Mumbai and Vidarbha from Maharashtra because of Thackeray and Sena,” the editorial said.
Upadhya said Fadnavis had responded to Thackerays’ allegation, saying the BJP wanted to make Mumbai independent by eradicating corruption in BMC.
The Sena further said they expected Fadnavis to give a reply to Thackeray’s attacks, but instead, he chose to address the north Indian community in Mumbai. “We expected Fadnavis and others to give an ‘uttar sabha’ [good reply] to Sena’s rally in Mumbai, but Fadnavis chose Uttar Bharatiya sabha [a rally of north Indians]. In the rally, the leader of opposition defamed Maharashtra and the chief minister… He speaks differently when he is addressing Marathis, and his speech changes when he is addressing a Hindi-speaking audience. He read Hanuman Chalisa in the rally while wearing his shoes.”
In a response to Fadnavis’s statement likening the MVA government to Babri mosque, and that he would not rest till he pulled it down, the editorial said the Thackeray government had 170 members, and added: “Fadnavis’s statement about bringing down the structure will not happen. He brought down Babri in his dreams.”
