New Delhi: A day after NDA ally Shiv Sena joined hands with the opposition to protest demonetisation, Home Minister Rajnath Singh today spoke to its chief Uddhav Thackeray and is believed to have conveyed the BJP’s unhappiness over the move.
During the 10-minute telephonic conversation, Singh is understood to have told Thackeray that Shiv Sena joining hands with the opposition, despite being part of the Modi government, was sending a confusing signal and such an action was avoidable.
The Shiv Sena had yesterday taken part in a march to Rashtrapati Bhavan led by Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee and participated by Aam Aadmi Party and National Conference.
The parties lodged their protests before President Pranab Mukherjee against Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s announcement of demonetisation of Rs 1000 and Rs 500 notes and conveyed concern over the hardship being faced by the common people following the government action. Sena is the oldest ally of BJP and part of the Modi government at the Centre and the BJP-led government in Maharashtra.
While the other parties which took part in the march sought immediate withdrawal of demonetisation exercise, the Shiv Sena had differed on the issue and insisted the government extend the deadline of accepting the old currency notes.
“We welcome the demonetisation move. But we are against the inconvenience caused to people due to it. We have not signed the memorandum (that will be presented to the President Pranab Mukherjee).
“We are going to submit a separate memorandum seeking redressal of the inconvenience caused to people. We also want the period to be extended,” Gajanan Kirtikar of Shiv Sena had said.
PTI