Is NDA legitimate, asks Shiv Sena

Mumbai: Two days after it was unceremoniously ejected from the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance, the Shiv Sena on Tuesday raised serious questions on the very legitimacy of the NDA.

It demanded to know who had authorised the Sena’s removal from the NDA, whether proper procedures were followed or not, and if any show-cause notice was served before taking the extreme step.

“A person with a crooked face, who made the announcement has no knowledge of history or the past politics which led to the creation of the NDA in which Shiv Sena was involved in its ‘karma-dharma’ from the very first day it was born,” the Sena said in strong identical edits in the party mouthpieces “Saamana” and “Dopahar Ka Saamana”.

It pointed out that it was political giants like the Sena founder late Balasaheb Thackeray, late Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, late Defence Minister George Fernandes, senior BJP leader L.K. Advani, and Akali Dal’s Parkash Singh Badal, who were the founding pillars of the NDA.

“While Fernandes was the NDA Convenor, Advani was the NDA Chairman. They held meetings and discussed important issues before taking any decisions unitedly.

“But today, who is the Chairman/Convenor of the NDA? Was a meeting of all the NDA allies convened and the matter discussed? Then, on what basis was the arbitrary decision to remove the Sena taken and by whom,” the Sena demanded sternly.

On November 17, “a person with a contorted face”, the Sena said in an apparent veiled reference to Pralhad Joshi, Minister for Parliamentary Affairs, said: “Shiv Sena’s minister has resigned from the NDA government they are not attending today’s NDA meeting and working out alliance with the Congress and the NCP. So it is natural that they will be allotted seats on the opposition side in both Houses.”

But one of the BJP General Secretaries, speaking on condition of anonimity told IANS that inspite of the almost certain divorce between the two, Sena is still technically part of NDA.

The Sena, meanwhile, said the unilateral announcement was made on the seventh death anniversary of one of the founders of NDA and the whole country was bowing before him with reverence.

Slamming the unilateral move, it said in the past seven-and-half years, the NDA’s credibility has been eroded and is being gradually destroyed with the Sena being thrown out of its fold.

“This is the beginning of the end of arbitrary and arrogant politics… We will not rest without uprooting those who have dared to mess around with the Sena in Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj’s Maharashtra,” the Sena warned.

It pointed out how “money or power” does not work in Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj’s land, and this was effectively displayed in the outcome of the last (October 2019) Assembly election results.

The Sena said the BJP has accused it of joining hands with the Congress-Nationalist Congress Party, but said no procedures were followed to find out why matters went to the brink.

“Did you summon a meeting of the NDA and give us a charge-sheet? Before accusing us, did the BJP take permission of NDA to form a government with Mehbooba Mufti in Jammu and Kashmir and dancing to the tunes of anti-nationals or Pakistanis?

“Did you take NDA permission before tying a loin cloth on the waist of Nitish Kumar who has always criticized Modi? But you lost no time in sacking Sena from the NDA, on the death anniversary of one of its founders,” the Sena said.

The Sena cautioned that “the countdown” has now begun in Maharashtra where only slogans of “Shiv Sena Zindabad” will roar in every corner — “We are prepared..!”

The Sena is presently finalising an alliance with the Congress-NCP to form the next government in Maharashtra, though the BJP is confident that the party (Sena) will return to its fold soon and they would be in power again.