’Beginning of Narendra Modi era doesn’t mean end of Advani era’: Shiv Sena

Mangalore Today News Network

Mumbai, March 22, 14: The Shiv Sena today hit out at its ally, the BJP, by questioning why the party took so long to decide on senior leader LK Advani’s Lok Sabha seat. It also cautioned the BJP that the controversy that preceded the decision could have an adverse impact on the party.

 

 

"LK Advani’s name should have been in the first list of BJP’s Lok Sabha candidates. However, this did not happen. One who built the party and showed it days of glory was kept waiting," Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray said in an editorial in party mouthpiece ’Saamna’.

"Why should the BJP take so long to decide on Advani’s constituency? Doing so is his insult," he added.

Targeting the BJP further, the editorial said, "Narendra Modi’s era has begun but that does not mean it is the end of the Advani era."

On Thursday, after long hours of coaxing by top BJP leaders including the party’s prime ministerial candidate Mr Modi and party chief Rajnath Singh, Mr Advani agreed to run from Gandhinagar in Gujarat, though he had made it clear that he preferred Bhopal in Madhya Pradesh. The settlement came only after the party’s ideological mentor, the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh or RSS, intervened.

"Murli Manohar Joshi was asked to contest from Kanpur so that Modi could contest from Varanasi. Rajnath chose safe seat Lucknow instead of Ghaziabad. Jaitley was fielded from Amritsar by removing Navjot Sidhu from fray. Then why was there so much delay in Advani’s case," the article in Saamna read.

"The relation that the veteran leader has with the masses is still intact. The Advani episode may seem trivial but one must keep in mind that big accidents can occur through such small incidents," the Sena leader said.

The Shiv Sena is the BJP’s oldest political partner. Its chief, Uddhav Thackeray, made it clear earlier this month that the alliance was tested by the interest shown by the BJP in his estranged cousin, Raj Thackeray, who heads another regional party, the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena or MNS.

Yesterday, the Shiv Sena made a bold declaration intended to offend the BJP and said it would contest 20 parliamentary seats in Uttar Pradesh.