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The Shiv Sena, which rode on the Narendra Modi wave in Maharashtra, is not in a mood to spoil the party, at least for now. The saffron party, which does not shy away from taking an aggressive stand against Pakistan, preferred not to comment on Prime Minister-elect Narendra Modi’s invitation to Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to attend his swearing-in ceremony slated for May 26.
“No comments,” said Shiv Sena spokesman Sanjay Raut, to a query by Business Standard.
The Shiv Sena, which hopes to get ministerial berths for at least four of its MPs in the Modi-led government, is not keen to court any controversy and thereby land Modi and the Bharatiya Janata Party in trouble.
The Sena’s latest move is a U-turn from party president Uddhav Thackeray stating on Monday that the Narendra Modi government should adopt an aggressive tit-for-tat policy towards Pakistan and should “teach it a lesson” if it creates trouble for India.
When asked if the Sena had changed its opposition to cricketing and cultural ties with Pakistan, Thackeray had indicated that India should stop playing with Pakistan which, he said, was resorting to infiltration from across the border.
The party had suffered serious embarrassment after its leader Ramdas Kadam had targeted Pakistan at an election rally last month. “Remember the days of the 1993 blasts in Mumbai. The lives of many Hindus were saved because of the Shiv Sena and its supremo, the late Balasaheb Thackeray. Now, if Modi comes to power, he will destroy Pakistan in six months,” Kadam had warned. However, Uddhav had quickly disowned Kadam’s anti-Pakistan barb, saying that it was the latter’s personal view.
