Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India]: Shiv Sena Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray (UBT) leader Anand Dubey on Tuesday criticized the Samajwadi Party’s (SP) Maharashtra unit for its decision to contest the upcoming Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections independently. He labeled the state SP leaders as the “B team” of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Speaking to media, Dubey stated that Shiv Sena UBT’s senior leaders would meet SP Chief Akhilesh Yadav to address the “bad policies” of the SP in Maharashtra.
“It has been exposed that the Maharashtra Samajwadi Party is the ‘B’ team of the BJP, especially Abu Azmi and Rais Sheikh. When our leaders meet Akhilesh ji in Delhi, we will certainly tell them about the bad policies of the Samajwadi Party in Maharashtra. We had included the Samajwadi Party in the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) with love, but we didn’t know that they could stab us in the back… In Maharashtra, the Samajwadi Party has no identity without Maha Vikas Aghadi,” said Dubey.
SP’s Stand on BMC Elections
Responding to these allegations, SP Maharashtra leader and MLA Abu Azmi stated, “The SP will contest the BMC polls as an individual party. We will contest at least 150 seats. There is no coordination in the MVA anymore. We have said before as well that we will not stand together with anyone who does not believe in secular ideology.”
Reaction to Parbhani and Beed Violence
On the issue of recent violence in Parbhani and Beed, the Shiv Sena UBT spokesperson commented on the murder of Santosh Deshmukh.
“The murder of Santosh Deshmukh has rattled the entire state. All facts in this case are before the people. The goon named Valmik Karad is being called a close aide of Dhananjay Munde. The CM and the deputy CMs are also helping in this by saving Walmik Karad. Maharashtra’s Sarpanch association has called a bandh today,” Dubey said.
He further called for judicial intervention, stating, “Maharashtra is waiting for justice for Santosh Deshmukh. The Mahayuti government is unsuccessful. We will demand that the court, the governor, and the president take cognizance of the matter.”