Sir — This refers to the editorial, “Going for broke” (January 25). Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray has made statements against his alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the past as well, as Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has noted.
One recalls the Shiv Sena leader’s several offensive and demeaning remarks on his BJP ally and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. But they ignored these jibes because the Shiv Sena did not withdraw their Ministers from the NDA cabinets at the Centre and the State till today. Is this not duplicity, hypocrisy and double talk?
Uddhav Thackeray seems worried that even in their supposedly strong Marathi Manus constituency, its alliance
partner, the BJP did better than the Shiv Sena in the last polls they fought together. In my opinion, its base is slipping; Thackeray’s
concept of Hindutva is bigoted and regressive, doing little justice to its inclusive, progressive ideas of Sarva Dharama Sambhav and Vasudeva Kutubakam — respect for all faiths and the world is one family.