Criticising Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi over his meeting with the Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif, Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray on Friday called it and ‘unfortunate’ event.
“The situation (between two countries) has not changed so far. The meeting between the two is an unfortunate event,” said Mr. Thackeray, whose party is an ally in the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led central government as well as in Maharashtra.
While attacking the PM, Mr. Thackeray referred to the recent incident of fire at the border between two countries where one of the Indian soldiers died. “I feel Mr. Modi is capable of changing the scene. People do have faith in him. I am not aware whether the government has learned anything from past incidents, but we must teach a lesson to Pakistan,” he added.
Taking a dig at the BJP president Amit Shah who on Thursday had stressed on contesting election on its own in the future, Mr. Thackeray asked whether the BJP wants single-party run governments like the ones in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhatisgarh?
“I read in the newspapers today that they are stressing on contesting elections single handed. Does he (Amit Shah) want BJP leaders to work like Shivraj singh, Vasundhara Raje and Raman Singh?” Mr. Thackeray asked.
While addressing a closed-door party function in Mumbai on Thursday, Mr. Shah had appealed the BJP activists to strengthen the party to be able to attain power without any other party’s help. At present, the BJP enjoys Sena’s support in Maharashtra as it has not been able to garner simple majority in the State Assembly.
