Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday said that it was decided between the BJP and its then alliance partner Shiv Sena that the 2019 Maharashtra Assembly elections will be fought under the leadership of Devendra Fadnavis but Uddav Thackeray-led party compromised with Hindutva for power.
Addressing the BJP workers at Ganesh Krida Maidan here, Shah dared Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray to resign from the office and fight elections again.
BJP and Shiv Sena contested the 2019 Assembly elections in Maharashtra in an alliance. However after the alliance emerged victorious, Sena parted ways from the BJP-led coalition over the issue of the chief minister's post. Later, Uddhav Thackeray joined hands with Congress and Sharad Pawar's Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) to form Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government.
"I was here during the Maharashtra elections. I myself had had a conversation with Shiv Sena. And I want to reiterate that it was decided that the election would be fought under the leadership of Devendra Fadnavis and the chief minister would be from the BJP. But they denied it. They compromised with Hindutva for power," Shah said at the event.
"They sat on the lap of the ones against whom they have been fighting for two generations. They claimed that we never agreed on making the chief minister from the BJP. In your presence, I and PM Modi had said that the election is being fought under the leadership of Devendra Fadnavis and he would be the chief minister. But since you had to be the chief minister, you betrayed us."
"If you dare, resign and come and fight against us. The BJP workers are ready. The people of Maharashtra are ready to pay back," he added.
Amit Shah was on a two-day visit to Maharashtra.
The former BJP national president said that decline of the Maharashtra government would begin from the Pune Municipal Corporation election results.
"Maharashtra Aghadi government is such an auto-rickshaw whose three wheels are tri-directional with none of them having a movement. The decline of this government would begin from the results of Pune Municipal Corporation," he said.
The Union Home Minister further hit out at Congress for being lenient towards corruption and terrorism during its tenure from 2004 to 2014.
"Congress ruled for 10 years, under the leadership of Sonia Gandhi and Manmohan Singh. There was a corruption of Rs 12 lakh crore. The economy was destroyed. Terrorists used to infiltrate and kill our soldiers and there used to be no response from the government. When the Modi government was formed, Uri and Pulwama happened. They forgot that it was not the Congress government in the country. Within 10 days, our soldiers retaliated successfully in Pakistan," Shah said.
Addressing the party workers, Shah said that he had begun his career as a Booth President and it is only the BJP where a booth president can become the national president.
"I had begun my career as a Booth President in Gujarat. I want to tell you all, out of the 1650 registered political parties in India, it is only BJP where a Booth President can become the National President. I do not have a political background, I am only a worker in the party which gave me the opportunity to be the national president. I want to share my experiences with all of you. The one who asks in the party never gets what he wants, and the one who does not ask for anything, he need not ask, the party itself rewards the worker," he said.
Shah further said that BJP is not a party of leaders but the party of workers and they are the future of the party.
"The party that began in 1950 is now the largest party in the world. The party whose prime minister taunted us saying 'Hum do hamare do', as we had only two seats in the Lok Sabha at one time, are down to 44 now. And we crossed the 300 mark twice under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Because this has never been a party of leaders, but workers. We on the stage are not the future of the party, you are," Shah said.
( With inputs from ANI )
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