Samajwadi Party threatens to quit MVA following tweet on Babri demolition | Bombay News

On Saturday, when the three-day special session of the Maharashtra assembly began for the swearing-in ceremony of the newly elected MLAs and election of the assembly speaker, the MVA MLAs left the country to protest against the alleged manipulation of EVMs in assembly elections. .

However, two Samajwadi Party MPs, Abu Azmi and Rais Shaikh, took oath.

The rift began on December 6 when Shiv Sena (UBT) party secretary Milind Narvekar posted a picture of the Babri Masjid demolition on social media along with photos of Bal Thackeray and the latter’s remark that he was proud of those who demolished the mosque.

Photographs of party chief Uddhav Thackeray and Aaditya Thackeray were also released.

The post and photos sparked controversy and Rais Shaikh expressed his anger on social media.

“This is to remind you that the Shiv Sena (UBT) enjoyed huge support from secular votes in the Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabha elections. The glorification of the dark day in Indian history is unwarranted and unwarranted. I strongly condemn such glorification,” he said in a message.

Azmi said there was “no coordination within the MVA during negotiations on seat sharing for the parliamentary elections and campaign”.

“Now, according to reports, after the defeat in the assembly elections, Uddhav Thackeray has asked his party leaders and workers to aggressively pursue the Hindutva agenda,” he said.

“Yesterday, party leader Narvekar issued a message supporting the demolition of Babri Mosque. We cannot tolerate this, which is why we are reconsidering our alliance with the MVA.

One of the reasons for the party’s debacle appears to be that its traditional voters abandoned it following Mahayuti allegations that the Thackeray faction abandoned Hindutva in favor of Muslim votes.

As part of the party’s preparations for the upcoming municipal elections, Thackeray has asked his workers to aggressively pursue Hindutva to counter Mahayuti. Narvekar’s act is seen as part of the same strategy.

Recently, the Shiv Sena (UBT) raised questions over attacks on Hindus in Bangladesh and approached Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnav to protect the Hanuman temple at Dadar Central Station from demolition.

Milind Narvekar did not respond to calls and messages regarding his post.

Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sunil Raut, reacting to Azmi’s statement, said, “I don’t know if Azmi had a discussion with his party leadership before making this statement. As for our position, it is the party leadership that will decide.”

Rais Shaikh, when asked about the decision of the two Samajwadi Party MLAs to take oath, said, “We were not informed about the decision not to take oath, so we did it. It was just a communication problem. We are in alliance with MVA. However, Shaikh added that his party had reservations over the Shiv Sena’s (UBT) pursuit of aggressive Hindutva.

“They should stay away from it,” he said. “If they maintain this position in the coming days, we will rethink the alliance.”