Opposition slams Sena and MNS for giving tickets to groups they had earlier opposed
“Thackerays in Mumbai are like Mayawati in Uttar Pradesh. She once hated the Dalits and now she is hugging them for votes. The same has been the strategy of both, Uddhav (Shiv Sena) and Raj (MNS),” said Hussain Dalwai, spokesperson of the Congress in Mumbai.
Dalwai alleged that both the parties have become desperate for poll wins and are partying with groups they had earlier hated. “Sena had its share of campaigns against Ambedkar supporters but now they have agreed to lend 29 seats to them. Similarly, the MNS now is accepting non-Marathi candidates for polls in Thane and Kalyan,” said Dalwai.
Even some senior leaders from the NCP alleged that the willingness to accept non-Marathi candidates after it amassed a following on its pro-Marathi promises reveals that the MNS is desperate to win. “They had started the violent non-Marathi campaigns but now their desperation is driving them to compromise,” said a senior NCP leader. Stating that the Sena-BJP cannot even handle family feuds, senior NCP members pointed out to Gopinath Munde’s brothers who ditched the BJP to join the NCP.
Sena hits back
Hitting back at these allegations, Neelam Gorhe, spokesperson of the Shiv Sena, said, “These are cheap poll tricks of the Congress. Allegations like this are expected from them. The fact remains that even with such allegations they have not been able to throw us out and can never do so.”
MNS is just a hot-air balloon
Sources reported that during the last week’s Thane election interviews, MNS supremo Raj Thackeray interviewed around 32 non-Marathi candidates. The MNS holds the opposition party reins in the Kalyan-Dombivli Municipal Corporation. “MNS had driven the agenda against non-Marathi so hard that the party won 13 MLAs and secured 27 seats in the Kalyan-Dombivli area. Now they are willing to accept even non-Marathi candidates who can ensure victory for them. Their Maharashtra has not stretched beyond Mumbai, Nashik and Pune. They are just a hot air balloon floating on the strength of a non-Marathi campaign,” said another senior leader from Shiv Sena.
Defending her party, Shalini Thackeray, senior leader of the MNS, said, “People must check themselves before making baseless allegations. We will provide opportunities to all those who have committed themselves to make the state better in all aspects. The Shiv Sena might be in this business but MNS does not work on this policy.”