Targeting the ruling Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), which comprises the Shiv Sena, NCP and Congress, in Maharashtra, Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday called it a “three-wheel auto-rickshaw government which has failed on all fronts”, and disputed Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray’s claim that the BJP had promised the Maharashtra’s Chief Minister’s post to the Sena after the 2019 Assembly elections.
“I was the BJP President then…We never gave any such undertaking and we do not lie. They are claiming we did it in a private room…I don’t do anything in private, I do everything in the open, in full public view,” Shah asserted.
“There were posters of the PM. The elections were held under the leadership of Modiji and (then Chief Minister Uddhav) Fadnavis. Uddhav was present in rallies where Modiji or I was there. But at no point of time did they raise the issue of the CM’s post,” Shah countered.
Further justifying his contentions, Shah narrated the example of Bihar where Nitish Kumar was given the CM’s post, although his party won fewer seats as compared to the BJP’s share in the As sembly elections last year.
The Sena had parted ways with long-term ally BJP after the 2019 polls over the issue of sharing the chief ministerial post in Maharashtra, after which Thackeray had claimed that the BJP had gone back on its promise.
Attacking the three-party alliance of the Shiv Sena-Nationalist Congress Party-Congress for the first time since it took power in November 2019, Shah labelled it an “auto-rickshaw government” with each wheel going in a different direction. “They have violated the sacred public mandate which was in favour of BJP-Sena… They colluded to form the three-party ‘auto-rickshaw government’ in Maharashtra which is floundering at every step,” Shah said.
Shah also accused Chief Minister Thackeray of compromising on the principles and ideals of his father, the late Balasaheb Thackeray. “In his greed to grab power, Uddhav Thackeray abandoned the late Balasaheb Thackeray’s ideals and principles and entered into an unholy alliance and became CM,” said Shah.
Shah also said that when Article 370 was abrogated, the Shiv Sena had welcomed it in whispers. “What was the fear?” Shah questioned.
Shah made the statements at the inauguration of a 300-bed private hospital and medical college built by Narayan Rane in Kankavli in Maharashtra’s Sindhudurg district. Top BJP state leadership including Leader of Opposition in Assembly, Devendra Fadnavis, his counterpart in the Council, Pravin Darekar, State BJP president, Chandrakant Patil and BJP Rajya Sabha member Narayan Rane as well as Goa CM Pramod Sawant and other dignitaries, political activists and medical students were present at the event.
On the occasion, Shah also recounted PM Modi’s impressive handling of the Covid-19 pandemic, the ‘timely lockdown’ imposed in March 2020, the meticulous treatment protocols which are being studied and followed worldwide, the huge strides taken in the country’s medical and health sectors, and the development of the vaccines in the country which are ready to be supplied to ‘nearly two-thirds of humanity’.
Shah also praised Narayan Rane for his continuous efforts to develop Sindhudurg and assured that the BJP would not dump him under any circumstances, but treat him only with full dignity.
Affiliated to the Maharashtra University of Health Sciences, Nashik, the Sindhudurg Shikshan Prasarak Mandal (SSPM) Medical College & Lifetime Hospital, occupies a 70-acre campus in Padve village in Kankavali and is expected to give a much-needed boost to medical facilities in the Konkan region.