A poster erected by a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate in the Rajasthan assembly elections to greet Maharashtra CM Eknath Shinde for a poll campaign has sparked a verbal altercation between the two factions of the Shiv Sena, led by Shinde and Uddhav Thackeray. Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut objected to Shinde being touted on the poster as Hinduhridaysamrat (emperor of Hindu hearts), a title used to describe Shiv Sena founder Bal Thackeray.
What great deed has Shinde done to earn this title, Raut said, while speaking to reporters. The poster was put up by workers of Balmukundacharya, BJP candidate from Hawa Mahal assembly constituency to welcome Shinde during the latter’s recent poll campaign visit to Rajasthan.
A new trend has started to term those who betrayed ideology for greed of power, Raut said, in an apparent reference to Shinde and his group of 40 MLAs ditching Uddhav Thackeray last year to join the state government in Maharashtra. The Shinde group termed Raut’s remarks as being the result of frustration. Shinde is frustrated, that is why he is making such comments, Sena spokesperson Arun Sawant said.
Responding to the controversy over Shinde being labelled Hinduhridaysamrat, state BJP minister Sudhir Mungantiwar said, One should understand that somebody else puts up such banners. Will Shinde himself put up his own banner? Workers are enthusiastic about leaders. It is natural for workers to have feelings for Shinde, who they feel is going by the path followed by Bal Thackeray.