Mumbai: Shiv Sena leaders’ appointment on statutory bodies and corporations has given an indication that the party is back on track to work with its alliance partner Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Sena had earlier declared to contest upcoming bypolls on its own and has since been targeting BJP and its governments day in and day out, but still it has accepted the ‘creamy’ bodies of the government. Meanwhile, opposition has called the acceptance as proof of how Sena wants to be in power and its criticism of government is fake.
Sena leaders MLA Uday Samant, Vinod Ghosalkar, Haji Arafat Sheikh and Ashish Jaiswal were appointed on different corporations by the state government on Friday. This comes as political move to pacify leaders across the state that have felt sidelined in last four years. Maharashtra Assembly is scheduled for elections in October 2019 but there is buzz that BJP may opt for early polls with general elections by May 2019.
Interestingly, sharing power at such last leg of the tenure has given a contradictory signal than Sena had given earlier. Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray has given a call to contest all elections independently. But the decision to accept the ‘creamy’ posts of chairmanship on various boards at this point has sent a message that Sena is trying to ‘patch up’ with BJP leadership for the polls.
The Opposition has criticised Sena’s decision to accept the posts. “Either Sena leadership is confused or it’s fooling its cadre. We know that they can’t go out of power. So, Sena’s criticism against own government and now accepting these posts expose the hypocrisy of the party,” said Sachin Sawant Congress spokesperson.
Meanwhile, Shiv Sena MLC Neelam Gorhe defended the decision to accept the posts. “Sena is still with NDA. We have ideological differences with BJP. There are many issues, which need to be solved. These issues are of people. So, we cannot leave from our responsibility. ”
