The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) does not have confidence in winning the Lok Sabha elections in 2024 and hence it is breaking opposition parties, said Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray on Monday while reacting to former chief minister Ashok Chavan’s exit from Congress.
Thackeray also said the BJP once gave the slogan “Congress mukta Bharat” but soon the party will become a “Congress-occupied BJP” and even the party’s president will be a former Congress leader. He was referring to speculations that Chavan, an MLA from Bhokar in Nanded district, is likely to get a Rajya Sabha nomination by the BJP.
“I am surprised by the decision of Ashok Chavan. Till yesterday he was in the MVA (Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi) and was involved in the seat-sharing talks for the Lok Sabha elections. Then what suddenly happened today that he left Congress?” he told reporters in Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar in Marathwada as part of his tour to every Lok Sabha constituency that was once with the undivided Shiv Sena.
Coming down heavily on the BJP, Thackeray said the party that makes big claims has to import leaders from other parties to show its strength. “This shows though Prime Minister Narendra Modi claims to win more than 400 seats in the coming Lok Sabha elections he and his party have no confidence at all. That’s why they are breaking other parties.”
“In Maharashtra, the BJP broke the Shiv Sena and imported Eknath Shinde and others. Later, they broke the NCP and imported Ajit Pawar and his supporters. Now it’s Congress and Ashok Chavan. In Bihar, the BJP forced chief minister Nitish Kumar to break the alliance with the RJD. If the BJP had worked honestly for the betterment of people in the last 10 years this situation would not have arisen. Now outsiders and opportunists are occupying the power centres in the government and loyalists of the BJP are being cornered in the party,” the Sena (UBT) chief said.
Thackeray also slammed the Centre for ignoring the farmers’ issues and criticised the state government over farmers’ suicides in the Marathwada region.