Sabre-rattling over ‘Hindutva’ ahead of BMC polls

Bal Thackeray could not have imagined that reciting Hanuman Chalisa would tantamount to sedition in his son’s regime, taunts Fadnavis

A day after Maharashtra Chief Minister and Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray taunted the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) over the latter’s ineffectual ‘Hindutva’ at a Mumbai rally, BJP Leader of Opposition Devendra Fadnavis hit back stating that Mr. Thackeray spoke in the Congress’ voice and that the CM’s late father, Sena founder Bal Thackeray, could never have imagined that reciting Hanuman Chalisa would tantamount to sedition in his son’s regime.

Riposting Mr. Thackeray’s jibes at the BJP, former Maharashtra Chief Minister Mr. Fadnavis, who addressed the ‘Hindi Bhashik Sammelan’ at Goregaon in Mumbai on Sunday evening, reiterated his charge of the Sena-controlled Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) being a hotbed of corruption.

The ‘Hindi Bhashik Sammelan’ at Goregaon saw the participation of social outfits from the Hindi-speaking belt of Bihar, Jharkhand and Uttar Pradesh and the function pointedly began with a collective recital of the Hanuman Chalisa.

The sabre-rattling between the BJP and the Sena has peaked ahead of the much-anticipated poll to the cash-rich BMC, which is the Shiv Sena’s power-base and the party’s major resource centre in Maharashtra. 

While the Sena held absolute sway over the Mumbai civic body for two decades, the BJP – riding high on the ‘Narendra Modi wave’ – had rattled the Sena by putting up a spirited performance in the 2017 civic body poll, when the party snared 82 of the total 227 seats, second only to the Sena’s tally of 84 seats. 

The Sena’s strength later increased to 97 with the support of some independents and the defection of some corporators from the Raj Thackeray-led Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS). 

In 2017, the Sena was in still in alliance with the BJP in Maharashtra. However, this time, with the two saffron parties on opposing sides in the political arena and much bad blood between them, the stakes for the BMC contest has never been higher.