Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar:
“There are many confused leaders in the country and now Raj Thackeray has been added to their ranks. Those who wanted to criticise him are now sitting shoulder-to-shoulder with him. The party workers are wondering, ‘Which flag should we take in our hands?’” This sharp criticism was levelled today by Shinde Sena spokesperson and social justice minister Sanjay Shirsat at a press conference.
Shirsat said, “Raj Thackeray frequently changes his political positions. At yesterday’s rally they levelled low-grade criticism at Shinde just because a ‘Namo Suvidha Kendra’ was set up. Why oppose a facility centre?” MNS workers will destroy it. Playing the role of destroyer looks good, but just look at the police action that follows. Tomorrow, what will be your place in the Maha Vikas Aghadi?” he questioned.
“ He is confused between what he said yesterday and what he is saying today,” Shirsat added. Referring to Raj’s earlier remarks about leaving the Shiv Sena, Shirsat noted, “Raj had said that he is leaving Shiv Sena because ringleaders had surrounded Balasaheb Thackeray. However, today he is going to them. We have no accounting for how many times you have gone to them, that doesn’t concern us. But what about the 18–19 years of struggle by MNS leaders and workers?” Shirsat asked.
“The question of ‘which flag to hold’ has arisen for them,” Shirsat repeated. Training his gun towards Raj, the spokesperson said, “When Shinde was chief minister he welcomed your proposals. We did not criticise you then; now we appeal to you to refrain from criticising Shinde.”
On Raj’s stance against the Election Commission, Shirsat said, “We will not stand in the way of your position, our stance is that the voters’ list must be clean.” The minister also taunted that “the time has come to merge MNS into the UBT fold,” indicating a cheeky prediction about Raj Thackeray’s future alignment.