Mumbai: Warning the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) that shameless bhakts, who chant ‘Modi’ all the time, will spell doom for the party and the Prime Minister, the Shiv Sena on Friday reminded the BJP that the Congress too faced the same fate after ‘Indira is India’ slogan was raised.
“Today, the country faces its greatest threat from such lowly persons, whether in politics or religion. These audacious people, who scream ‘Modi, Modi’ every time, are actually tarnishing the PM’s image,” said an editorial in party mouthpiece Saamana .
Referring to the incident in the BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) two days ago, when the BJP corporators chanted ‘Modi, Modi’ and the Sena corporators retaliated with ‘Chor Hai, Chor Hai’, the party pointed out that those (BJP) who challenged the Sena Tiger, got a resounding reply, ‘kaan ke neeche’ (slap).
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“We have always respected Mr. Modi as the PM...His name should evoke pride among the people, but not in such a maniacal manner,” the edit urged.
It recalled how in 1971, the then Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi, had brought Pakistan to its knees by severing East Pakistan to create an independent Bangladesh during the India-Pakistan war. “Her ‘bhakts’ had even coined a slogan of ‘Indira is India’ and blatantly insulted Mother India....However, despite her heroism in the 1971 War, she had to face a humiliating (electoral) defeat, which was largely due to the vulgarity exhibited by her hysterical ‘bhakts’ then,” the edit said.
On the BMC function, the party wondered why the BJP corporators created such a ruckus when the ₹647 crore grant was not coming from the BJP treasury nor was it intended for the Sena’s coffers.
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Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray on Friday called a meeting of all corporators, MLAs and MPs from Mumbai. According to sources in the meeting, Mr. Thackeray has asked the party leaders to prepare on every aspect related to the BMC since he anticipates the BJP attack over the civic body’s functioning to corner his party.
“He asked us to get prepared with facts and figures about the BMC. Not only the BJP, but even the opposition will take us on. We want to ensure that we face the questions firmly,” said an MLA.