Sena-BJP settle Shivaji credit in choppy sea

Mumbai: The fight between saffron allies Shiv Sena and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has turned petty, so cheap that Uddhav Thackeray’s official public relations officer Harshal Pradhan is circulating two pictures taunting the BJP.

The first picture is a poster of BJP where, the CM is taking credit for the Shivaji statue in the Arabian Sea, while the second picture is of BJP corporator Rajeshri Shirvadkar, resting her hand on the statue of Shivaji Maharaj. The caption for the picture reads: “Look at the respect for Shivaji Maharaj — BJP corporator Shirvadkar resting her hand on the statue of Shivaji”. The alleged picture is old and had caused a stir during 2014-15. The BJP had even apologised for the same at that time. However, with elections around the corner, the picture has made a comeback on social media.

The BJP is surprised that the Sena is using an old picture to settle scores with them. “The corporator had apologised for the mistake at that time. Why is the Sena talking about disrespecting Shivaji Maharaj or accusing the BJP for taking credit for the memorial. They were in power too in 1995, and claim to be the followers of Shivaji Maharaj so why didn’t they do it then? The BJP has done the memorial and we are informing the public,” said BJP Mumbai spokesperson, Niranjan Shetty.

The BJP is using posters all over the city with a tagline Mi Mumbaikar, something that was closely associated with the Sena.  Meanwhile, the Sena on social media is spreading the picture of the corproator to make their point.