After Shiv Sena Chief Uddhav Thackeray shelved his party’s decades-old alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the civic body, and decided to never form an alliance in future, the Shiv Sena ministers are now putting pressure on the BJP on a state level as well.
A delegation of Shiv Sena ministers in Maharashtra government has decided to meet chief minister Devendra Fadnavis on Friday. They are set to protest against the government’s latest decision to take out all pictures and idols of Gods from government offices in rural areas.
Notably, a circular regarding this was issued by state’s rural development division last week.
Thackeray criticized this decision while addressing Sena workers on Thursday. He termed it a ‘fatwa’ (diktat) and said it was taken without having any talk with Shiv Sena ministers. “They knew that if it was discussed in the cabinet, Shiv Sena ministers would have strongly opposed it,” Thackeray said.
Thackeray also called the move a false show of secularism and questions the transparency in the state government’s functioning. If the government is so secular it should first bring a uniform civil code, said the Sena chief.
The Sena will fight upcoming elections to all ten municipal corporations, including Mumbai, and zilla parishads alone. The party rotted more than 25 years owing to an alliance with the BJP, Thackeray said. Hereafter the party will never go with a bowl for a coalition and that this marks the beginning of the Sena’s new path, he added.
However, the Sena chief did not said anything on the effect on the coalition government in the state. The party’s move may affect the functioning of the state government as there are likely to be more disagreements between the two parties.
