Shiv Sena-BJP sparks fly at at new Ram Mandir Station

Mumbai: In the name of Lord Ram, workers from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Shiv Sena almost got into blows and heated arguments, shortly after the inauguration of a newly constructed station by the same name (Ram Mandir) in the western suburbs. While both the parties blamed each other, the incident brought to the fore the underlying tension simmering within the two saffron allies and its workers.

According to people present at the event, Mr Diwakar Raote, state transport minister and Shiv Sena’s local member of Parliament, Gajanan Kirtikar, lost their cool due to the constant sloganeering of BJP workers.

Mr Raote allegedly threatened the BJP men with the same consequences as he was being meted out at the function.

Mr Kirtikar said that both the party workers were present, but the BJP men were continuously shouting slogans. “This wasn’t in tandem with the decorum of the programme. Mr Suresh Prabhu central minister was also present, hence Mr Raote asked them that if they would disturb Mr Modi’s programme as well two days later by raising slogans?” he asked.  

BJP’s Mumbai north MP, Gopal Shetty, who was present at the function confirmed about the incident. “The workers were excited and hence they were continuously sloganeering. This did lead to some tension but nothing happened, no leader lost his cool and everything took place smoothly,” said Mr Shetty.

Buzz in the political circuit is that Mr Kirtikar is still unhappy that people aren't giving him credit for naming the station as Ram Mandir. “According to all records available the place is known as Ram Mandir. After a lot of efforts the name was given to the station, so we were expecting everything to go smoothly. Our workers were disciplined, but the BJP workers were making a lot of noise,” he alleged.