Fri. Mar 29th, 2024

A bitter war of words has erupted between saffron allies Bharatiya Janata Party and Shiv Sena ever since they have accused each other of indulging in unethical means to win upcoming Palghar Lok Sabha constituency by-polls.

Shiv Sena kicked off this encounter between the two sides by writing to the Election Commission to allege that BJP was trying to bribe voters by promising to pay them money in exchange for their votes. The commission responded to this complaint by initiating an investigation into the allegations, while Palghar police has also filed an FIR in this regard.

Sena upped its ante later on by releasing a video clip in which Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis can allegedly be heard asking BJP workers to use all possible means at their disposal for winning the by-elections. Fadnavis reacted to this clip by terming it “twisted” and slammed Shiv Sena for resorting to such means.

Elections in Palghar were announced after this constituency’s long-time MP Chintamani Wanga passed away a few months ago. Wanga was a BJP loyalist who had worked hard at increasing his party’s presence in this tribal-dominated region.

Wanga’s wife and sons had joined Shiv Sena a few weeks after his death, claiming that BJP had ignored and disrespected them. Their decision soon became a point of contention between the two saffron allies after Sena fielded Wanga’s son Shrinivas for the by-polls.

Fadnavis had reacted to this move by calling it violation of “coalition dharma” by Sena. The chief minister had said that BJP was going to approach Wanga’s family, but Sena did that first, forcing BJP to then rope in Palghar’s former Congress MLA Rajendra Gavit as its candidate.

UP chief minister Yogi Adityanath had also been deployed by BJP for campaigning in Palghar, and his presence had also contributed to the ongoing confrontation. Sena chief Udhav Thackeray had slammed Adityanath just two days ago by criticizing him for not taking off his shoes while paying tributes to a statue of Shivaji Maharaj. Thackeray had said he felt like “garlanding Adityanath with his own shoes” following the incident.

Campaigning for Palghar Bhandara-Gondia by-elections concluded yesterday, and voting for the same is scheduled to take place on Monday.

By dhruv

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