Mumbai, July 3 (IANS) The Shiv Sena Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray (UBT) has launched a fierce attack on the current ruling dispensations at the Centre and in Maharashtra, saying that the peaceful and content nature of the state’s political culture has been completely eradicated, replaced by an “insatiable, ravenous greed for power”.

The Thackeray camp, in an editorial in the party’s mouthpiece, ‘Saamana’, sharply criticised legislators who are allegedly “selling themselves for Rs 50 crore” or defecting out of a lust for positions like the Deputy Chairperson’s post or Union Cabinet berths. “Breaking or buying such helpless and mentally weak individuals requires no bravery,” the editorial said.

It further stated, “The grotesque, victorious laughter of these leaders resembles that of Duryodhana. Just as Duryodhana and his gang laughed during the disrobing of Draupadi in the royal court, these leaders celebrate today. However, Lord Krishna appeared to protect Draupadi’s honour, and the subsequent Mahabharata wiped out the mocking laughter of Duryodhana’s clan. The current political mockery should be a matter of deep introspection for everyone.”

The editorial highlighted a distressing environment where genuine political workers, who enter public life to fight for the people’s causes, are being driven to despair. It claimed that under the current “Modi-style” governance, a narrative has been forced that social and development work can only happen under the shadow of the ruling party.

The Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena argued that if such a political atmosphere had existed 50 years ago, legendary social reformers and clean politicians would have been suffocated. “Great social workers like Baba Amte, Shivajirao Patwardhan, Dr Abhay Bang, Popatrao Pawar, and Dr Prakash Amte would have had their work halted unless they bowed to the BJP to get government funds. Highly principled legislators of the past — such as Madhu Dandavate, Barrister Nath Pai, Madhu Limaye, Pilu Modi, George Fernandes, Comrade Hiren Mukherjee, Ganpatrao Deshmukh, and Prof N.D. Patil — would have been coerced into joining the BJP’s fold,” it remarked.

According to the editorial, the current wave of engineered defections by the BJP and its “baseless” allies is distorted and disgusting, noting that even long-serving opposition leaders who were once content in their roles are being targeted.

The Thackeray camp targeted Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, stating that both remain deeply unsatisfied — one anxious to protect his post and the other to please Delhi’s “Maharashtra-haters” by breaking opposition parties, respectively.

Addressing the recent defection of six Shiv Sena MPs and a Member of the Legislative Council (MLC) to the Shinde faction, the Thackeray camp dismissed their justifications of “political compulsion”. It has accused them of sheer selfishness and betraying their parent party (“betraying the mother”) after enjoying all positions of power. It questioned what dignity these defectors hope to achieve, claiming they will ultimately live as mere “domestic helps” or “servants” to the rulers in Delhi.

The editorial concluded with a grim reminder that politics in Maharashtra has descended into absolute opportunism, where national ideology and regional pride have been bartered away for personal gain, leaving the state’s traditional peace and political morality completely shattered.

–IANS

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