Nagpur (Maharashtra), July 25
"Kick the
trappings of power and move aside... quit ministerships and red-beacon
cars, go and work independently for the people," the RSS-inspired Tarun
Bharat daily advised the Shiv Sena chief on Saturday.
The stern
and unexpected 'advice' to Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray came via an
edit published in the daily, headquartered here.
In the scalding
editorial, the paper took strong umbrage at certain comments by
Thackeray in his marathon three-part annual interview to the party's
mouthpiece, Saamana, ahead of his birthday on July 27.
"What is
this regular crying and cribbing over everything? The BJP is weak, the
NCP is shameless, Congress is useless...Such abusive language does not
suit you," the daily said.
Challenging Thackeray's refrain that
"it was the BJP which wanted us (Shiv Sena) to join the Maharashtra
government," the edit pointed out that on the contrary it was the Sena
which was feeling left out of power, both at the Centre and in
Maharashtra.
"Who created all the drama during the assembly
seat-share talks, running from pillar-to-post for joining the state
cabinet, talking ('ulat-sulat') nonsense till Sena ministers were
sworn-in, sitting in the Opposition for two months after Chief Minister
Devendra Fadnavis' swearing-in, and discarding the opposition to grab
power?" the edit pointed out.
It said that people realised how
miserable the Sena legislators felt sitting in the opposition -- but the
moment a message came from New Delhi to include them in power, their
faces blossomed like flowers.
"You claim to be magnanimous in
supporting the state government... If that same magnanimity had been
shown during the seat-share talks, stopped squabbling over three-four
seats and understood the public mood, the state would have had a strong
alliance government," the edit said.
It reminded that despite
this, the Fadnavis government survived the vote of confidence in the
assembly without Shiv Sena support and even continued ruling for two
months without any problems, before the latter (Sena) crossed over from
the opposition to the treasury benches.
"When you keep insulting
and degrading the BJP at every opportunity, how do you expect it to call
the Shiv Sena a 'friend'? You want to join the government, criticize
your own CM, set rules and then break them irresponsibly... What is this
'tamasha' (drama)?"
It recalled how the Sena had dubbed Prime
Minister Narendra Modi as 'Afzal Khan' during the assembly campaign, how
it said "even Modi's father" could not have won the Lok Sabha elections
decisively without its support, and later blamed it for snapping the
alliance.
"If you harbour so much hatred (for BJP), then kick the
trappings of power and move aside... Quit ministerships and red-beacon
cars, go and work separately for the people," Tarun Bharat advised,
virtually asking Sena to pack up from the Maharashtra cabinet.
