MUMBAI: The Shiv Sena (UBT) has taken a sharp swipe at Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister and Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shinde over his recent meeting with Union Home Minister Amit Shah in Delhi, where he reportedly complained about the BJP poaching his leaders during the local body elections.
In a scathing editorial, the Thackeray camp -- via the party mouthpiece Saamana -- called the purported exchange between Shah and Shinde “entertaining” and said the “displeasure drama” unfolding in Maharashtra should not be taken seriously.
According to the editorial, Shinde’s frequent trips to Delhi “no longer hold any significance.”
“The BJP's fundamental nature is 'use, discard, or swallow and finish off.' When Shinde and his 40 MLAs defected, the BJP created an illusion that Shinde was a strong and great leader. They handed over the bow-and-arrow symbol of Shiv Sena to Shinde. This made Shinde strut around as if he were the Shiv Sena supremo. Now that the BJP has started showing its true colours, the Shinde faction is in complete panic, ” it claimed.