For ruling Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP), friend-turned-foe Shiv Sena in Maharashtra would pose a challenge in UP too. In the upcoming assembly polls of UP, Sena has fielded its candidates on 50-60 seats and forged an alliance with a few smaller parties.
For the first time, the Shiv Sena has decided to contest any poll outside Maharashtra with full might and UP assembly elections are a beginning to it. The leader of Shiv Sena parliamentary party and national spokesperson, Sanjay Raut, said that the party would contest the next parliamentary election in UP also. He said that Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray has taken this decision to oppose the wrong policies of BJP. Raut was addressing media in Lucknow on Saturday. He said that so far some five dozen candidates have been announced for UP assembly polls. However, this number is not much seeing the strength of UP assembly of 400 but it is a strong beginning.
Sanjay Raut said that BJP is scared with the presence of Shiv Sena and that is why it has been using ED and CBI against its opponents. Commenting on BJP fielding an ex-ED official from Lucknow assembly seat, he said that people with political motives are first being posted in central agencies and later on given election tickets. He said that BJP government has been using state machinery to get the nomination papers of Sena candidates rejected. Raut also accused that the Election Commission has been dancing on the tunes of BJP.
Condemning attack on AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi, the Sena leader said that this incident reflected the condition of law and order in UP. He said that despite opposing Owaisi politically, he could not justify the attack on him. He said that even UP CM Yogi is dear to him and he always talks high about law and order situation in the state. However, the attack on a member of parliament belied the tall claims of Yogi on law and order. He also ridiculed CM Yogi for latter’s statement of 80 vs 20 in UP elections and said that a chief minister should refrain from saying such things.
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