The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leaders and workers observed “gaddar din” or “traitor’s day” on Tuesday in Mumbai and other parts of Maharashtra to mark the first anniversary of the rebellion by Shiv Sena legislators, including Chief Minister Eknath Shinde. Led by NCP working president and Lok Sabha member Supriya Sule, party workers in Mumbai shouted slogans and carried symbolic “khoke” (cartons) to claim the rebel legislators took bribes in order to take power in the state. The rebellion in June last year led by Eknath Shinde facilitated the collapse of the then Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi government, comprising the Sena, NCP and Congress. On 30 June last year, Shinde became the Chief Minister of Maharashtra and Devendra Fadnavis of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) became deputy CM.
On Tuesday, Sule along with NCP workers gathered at the party’s south Mumbai to stage a protest. Protestors shouted slogans like “Pannas (50) Khoke, Ekdum Ok”, alleging that the rebel legislators had taken a bribe worth Rs 50 crore each. In nearby Thane- which is also the home town of CM Shinde- NCP leader and former Minister Jitendra Awhad led a similar protest. Party workers piled up several cartons with “Pannas Khoke, Ekdum Ok” stickers and burnt them as a mark of protest. In Nagpur, the NCP workers staged a demonstration at Variety Square and shouted slogans like “Khoke sarkar murdabad, gaddar aamdar murdabad” against legislators of the Shinde-led Shiv Sena. Interestingly, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut wrote to the United Nations to declare 20 June as “World Traitors Day” to mark the “desertion” of party chief Uddhav Thackeray by 40 Shiv Sena MLAs, including the present CM. Maharashtra NCP president Jayant Patil last week directed party cadres to stage a protest against the rebel legislators.
