The Shiv Sena (UBT) on Thursday urged the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) to set aside their differences with the Congress and join the opposition’s campaign against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.
In an editorial in its mouthpiece Saamana, the Uddhav Thackeray-led party said protests against the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls were being witnessed across the country, but the AAP and DMK had stayed away from the INDIA bloc’s protest against the CEC.
Sena (UBT) targets AAP-Congress differences
The party acknowledged differences between the AAP and Congress but said the two parties should come together in what it described as a fight against “dictatorship”.
“But the AAP and the Congress should at least come together to release the country from the shackles of dictatorship,” the Sena (UBT) said.
The editorial also referred to AAP convenor Arvind Kejriwal’s past confrontations with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and the Election Commission.
It alleged that Kejriwal, during his tenure as Delhi chief minister, was jailed in a “false” case. The Sena (UBT) further alleged that his defeat was engineered by deleting voters’ names from his constituency.
Based on these claims, the party argued that it was not in the AAP’s interest to remain away from the INDIA bloc’s campaign.
The Sena (UBT) said differences between the AAP and Congress over the Punjab Assembly polls should not prevent Kejriwal from participating in the opposition’s wider campaign against Modi and Shah.
DMK’s differences with Congress
The editorial also criticised the DMK for staying away from the protest. It referred to the party’s electoral setback in Tamil Nadu and claimed that actor C Joseph Vijay’s TVK came to power with Congress’ support.
The Sena (UBT) said this had angered the DMK but argued that its decision to stay away from the opposition protest was “not in the interest of the country.”
At the same time, the party praised the Biju Janata Dal (BJD), led by Naveen Patnaik, for participating in the INDIA bloc’s protest against the CEC.
Rahul Gandhi leads second day of protest
The editorial comes amid intensified opposition protests against the CEC. On Wednesday, Rahul Gandhi led INDIA bloc leaders in a street protest in Delhi for the second consecutive day. He and several MPs were detained by police amid confrontations between protesters and security personnel.
On Tuesday, Akashvani Bhawan had been the centre of the protest, where Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and other leaders staged a sit-in lasting more than eight hours before being forcibly removed.
Wednesday evening again witnessed tense scenes between police and protesting opposition leaders as the campaign against the CEC continued.
(With inputs from PTI)
