Maharashtra's Loyal Sena Voters, Not BJP, Forced MLAs to Leave: Amit Shah at News18 Rising India 2023

At the third edition of the News18 Rising India Conclave on Wednesday, Union Home Minister Amit Shah denied “any sympathy factor or ground support for the Thackerays in Maharashtra" post the Sena split and formation of a government with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

“In Maharashtra, the BJP and Shiv Sena had fought the elections together under the leadership of BJP’s Devendra Fadnavis. After losing the elections, the Congress and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) offered to make Uddhav Thackeray the Chief Minister. He agreed. But when their leaders started to go out, their ideological differences of opinion came to the surface. The Shiv Sena has been practising the politics of Hindutva for years. The Congress and NCP’s politics was different. The loyal Sena voter started to question public representatives, which forced them to quit Thackeray’s Sena. They didn’t leave because of us, people wanted the Sena and BJP together. The real Sena is with us. We have formed the government and will fight the polls together."

Do you think the BJP would have won the majority in Maharashtra if it had gone solo?

“It would have. But we thought the Sena had been with the BJP for years, so we trusted them," said Shah.

When asked if Eknath Shinde’s Sena would be merged with the BJP, Shah said, “There is no question of merger or a proposal for it. Shinde’s is the real Shiv Sena. The Election Commission has accepted it and granted the bow and arrow symbol to them. The BJP and Shiv Sena will fight the polls together."

Asked about the five-member Supreme Court bench’s observation that the governor should not have called for a floor test amid differences between MLAs in Maharashtra, Shah said, “It is not a judgment. It is a reaction from the dais. I believe the Sena’s lawyers responded to it. We shouldn’t speculate before a judgment. Once it comes, we will follow it."

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