Mumbai: A day after Shiv Sena MP Gajanan Kirtikar complained of step-motherly treatment meted out to his party in the National Democratic Alliance, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut on Saturday said the BJP is like a crocodile or python that swallows whoever is with it.
Talking to reporters, Raut said this was the reason his party chief Uddhav Thackeray decided to distance himself from the Bharatiya Janata Party in 2019, referring to the falling-out between the then undivided Sena and the BJP after Maharashtra assembly polls.
“Shiv Sena distanced itself from the BJP as the party was trying to finish it. The BJP is like a crocodile or python. Whoever goes with them, they are swallowed. Now they (Shiv Sena MPs and MLAs who rebelled against leadership) will realise that Uddhav Thackeray’s stand to distance himself from this crocodile was right,” said Raut.
There has been no change in BJP’s behaviour, even today it behaves the same way, the Rajya Sabha MP said.
On chief ministers from the opposition camp skipping a meeting of NITI Aayog, the Centre’s apex public policy think tank, in Delhi on Saturday, Raut said, “If non-BJP CMs boycott the NITI Aayog meeting, this means the Centre and NITI Aayog are not behaving properly with them or the state governments. They are unhappy.”
Those who do not resort to sycophancy, the NITI Aayog does not meet their demand and everyone knows this, Raut said.
Chief ministers Arvind Kejriwal (Delhi), Bhagwant Mann (Punjab), Mamata Banerjee (West Bengal), Nitish Kumar (Bihar), M K Stalin (Tamil Nadu), K Chandrashekar Rao (Telangana) and Ashok Gehlot (Rajasthan) were among those who skipped the meeting, which was attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Raut also claimed that there was a lot of unease in the Shiv Sena headed by Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde. He claimed that the Shinde-led party has three factions, though he did not elaborate on it.
“The position of Shiv Sena (UBT) is exactly what Gajanan Kirtikar has said. They (BJP) did not keep their word, they did not give funds to Shiv Sena MLAs, and attempted to insult Shiv Sena leaders,” Raut said.
So, for the sake of the dignity of Maharashtra and party, Uddhav Thackeray took a decision, he said.
On Friday, Sena MP Kirtikar said, “We are part of the NDA (National Democratic Alliance)….So our work should be carried out accordingly, and (NDA) constituents should get a (suitable) status. We think we are being given step-motherly treatment.”
The Thackeray-led Shiv Sena exited the NDA in 2019 after it joined hands with the Congress and Nationalist Congress Party to create the coalition of Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) and staked a claim to form the government in Maharashtra.
However, a rebellion by Shinde split the Shiv Sena and resulted in the fall of the MVA government last year. Shinde then tied up with the BJP to become the CM.
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