Uddhav son Aaditya, the state’s tourism minister, who was present in the House when Mungantiwar spoke, refused to be drawn into the issue. (Express file)
IN WHAT is perhaps the first public admission by a senior BJP leader that the party may have overplayed its hand in Maharashtra, former state minister Sudhir Mungantiwar on Thursday said that his party had “deceived” former ally Shiv Sena and termed it as a mistake, which will be rectified one day.
Accusing NCP leader and Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar ignoring Sena’s development agenda, Mungantiwar, while participating in a discussion on the state Budget in the Assembly, said: “The BJP and Shiv Sena were in an alliance for 30 years, this coalition hasn’t even completed 30 months but cracks have surfaced already.”
When some members from the ruling benches quipped that “you (BJP) still deceived Shiv Sena”, Mungantiwar said: “We deceived the Shiv Sena. Yes, we did. But why are you taking so much advantage of it. We erred. At some point we will rectify our mistake.”
Just as the remainder of Mungantiwar’s speech saw him take sharp digs at the ruling coalition over “regional inequalities” and “lack of direction” in the budget, it was his admission of mistake that created a flutter. Before joining hands with NCP and Congress to come to power in Maharashtra, Sena chief and now Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray had accused BJP of not staying true to its word and deceiving his party over the power-sharing arrangement. The BJP has been refuting these allegations so far.
Former CM Devendra Fadnavis, in particular, who was part of the pre-poll talks held between Uddhav and BJP president Amit Shah, has categorically denied any understanding between the two parties over the sharing of the CM’s post. Fadnavis, now the Leader of Opposition in the Assembly, was not present in the House during Mungantiwar’s speech.
Mungantiwar went on to take potshots at the ruling alliance partners while referring to the ongoing political crisis in Madhya Pradesh where the Congress-led government is on the brink of collapse after former minister Jyotiraditya Scindia switched over to the BJP. “Just like in MP, a Jyotiraditya Scindia will emerge from all of you. We will then be back in the government,” he claimed.
On the completion of 100 days of the ruling coalition, Mungantiwar said, “The government will fall after it has committed a 100 crimes.” He added that while the previous BJP-led government had played development politics, this government believes in stalling projects.
Uddhav son Aaditya, the state’s tourism minister, who was present in the House when Mungantiwar spoke, refused to be drawn into the issue. His party will continue to work, as it has been doing, he told mediapersons.