 "Hold polls, results would reveal who represents Sena's ideology: Maha Cong")
Hitting out at Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde over his statement on Shiv Sena (UBT) joining hands with the Congress party and foresaking Shiv Sena's ideology, Maharashtra LoP Vijay Wadettiwar challenged CM Shinde to hold elections in the state, asserting that the election results would reveal who has the support of the public and who has Shiv Sena's ideology.
Wadettiwar reaction came after Shinde on Tuesday launched a no-holds-barred attack on his predecessor Uddhav Thackeray and said the former joined hands with the Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), forsaking the party's core Hindutva moorings, to fulfil his personal aspirations of becoming the CM.
"He (Eknath Shinde) is saying all this because of the support that Uddhav Thackeray is getting. They should declare elections, and then they will know who is original and who is a duplicate, who has the support of the public, and who has Shiv Sena's ideology," Maharashtra LoP told ANI.
Meanwhile, without naming Uddhav, who stepped down as CM after his Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government was reduced to a minority and eventually fell in the wake of his rebellion and switchover to the saffron camp, Shinde claimed that the former could join hands with Asaduddin Owaisi of the AIMIM or even with "Lashkar-e-Taiba or Hamas" if it suits his political ambitions.
"The people are aware of what is happening today. The lifelong ideals of our founder-leader, Balasaheb Thackeray, were compromised to satisfy someone's lust for power and ambition of becoming the chief minister. They joined hands with the Congress, the same Congress which Balasaheb always kept us away from. Today, these people are sharing the stage with them," Shinde said, railing against Uddhav.
"I won't be surprised if they (Sena UBT) merge with the Congress. Instead of being proud Hindus, they consigned the core beliefs that the (undivided) Shiv Sena was founded on to the waters to stand with the socialists, their ideological opposites. They could even join hands with Owaisi or with terrorist organisations such as Lashkar-e-Taiba and Hamas if it suits their political ambitions. Our Shiv Sena can and will never compromise with our founding ideals for the sake of power," Shinde added.
Earlier, Uddhav, addressing a counter-rally on the occasion of Dussehra at Dadar's Shivaji Park, dared CM Shinde to hold elections in the state for a people's referendum on where the two Sena factions stand in terms of popularity and public support.
"Hold elections if you dare. The people of Maharashtra will tell you (Shinde) who is the real Shiv Sena. I challenge you to hold elections in Maharashtra," Uddhav said.