Sena targets Modi again, BJP dares it to exit alliance

Shiv Sena accused BJP-RSS of losing the Hindutva agenda by hosting an iftar party

The strained Sena-BJP relations on Thursday suffered another blow with the Shiv Sena targeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi by asking if the much-hyped International Yoga Day would tackle problems of inflation and corruption.

While editorials in Sena mouthpiece Saamana have been regularly targeting the BJP government at the Centre and the state, the Maharashtra BJP on Thursday hit back at the Sena, and dared it to walk out of the alliance.

In an editorial published in

Saamana , the Sena praised Mr Modi for propagating yoga through the International Yoga Day and connecting people from an estimated 130 countries who participated in yoga camps.

“Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said that yoga can control diabetes. Other than controlling diabetes, we would like to know what more can be achieved or has been achieved through Yoga. Will Yoga help the people forget the pain of inflation and corruption in our day-to-day lives?” the editorial asked.

It added, “Prime Minister Modi deserves appreciation because he has prevailed upon people in 130 countries to perform Narendraasan . As the saying goes, Duniya jhukti hai, jhukane wala chahiye . Modi has succeeded in making people in 130 countries lie on the ground.”

The editorial also pointed that the need of the hour was to make Pakistan lie low and Yoga Day would not help. “This can only happen with the help of weapons. Pakistan deserves a permanent s

havaasan (a yoga

asan in which the performer has to lie still like a corpse),” it said.

Hours later, both parties were locked in a war of words. The trigger was a Marathi article penned by Maharashtra BJP spokesperson Madhav Bhandari that was published on Wednesday in the party’s fortnightly publication, Manogat.

Titled “When are you taking talaq? Mr Raut”, Mr. Bhandari took on Shiv Sena’s Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Raut, who is also the executive editor of Saamana, for his recent comments likening BJP’s rule to that of the Nizam’s.

“On one hand they eat ‘biryani’ on a plate given by the same ‘Nizam’ and then criticise us on the other hand. They have got ministries at the Centre and state, enjoy fruits of power only because of the favour of the same ‘Nizam’ and then curse BJP. This is called ‘ungratefulness’,” he said in the article.

Referring to Mr. Raut’s remarks made at a Sena meeting in Aurangabad, Mr. Bhandari asked: “They sit with us, ‘eat’ with us and then attack us as well...it’s better to take ‘talaaq’ from the Nizam’s father. So, Mr. Raut when are you taking talaaq?” The Shiv Sena hit back at the BJP-RSS on hosting an iftar party in New Delhi and described it as “pure hypocrisy”. “It is surprising that such iftar parties are organised by the RSS, but at the same time, not surprising also, because the RSS and the BJP seem to be losing the Hindutva agenda,” Shiv Sena leader Manisha Kayande told reporters. She was reacting to RSS activist Indresh Kumar’s Muslim Rastriya Manch (MRM) hosting an iftar party at Parliament House Annexe in New Delhi on July 2

Saamana editorial says Yoga Day will not help in reducing the problems of inflation, corruption