Mumbai, July 11 (IANS) The opposition leaders, particularly Shiv Sena-UBT, lashed out at Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Saturday, calling him a “traitor” and “fugitive”.

The reactions came a day after Shinde accused Shiv Sena-UBT chief Uddhav Thackeray of remaining silent on alleged embezzlement of donations made at Mumbai’s Siddhivinayak Temple, while coming in defence of the Uttar Pradesh government’s handling of the Ram Temple “theft” controversy.

Speaking to IANS, Shiv Sena-UBT MP Arvind Sawant referred to Uddhav Thackeray as a devotee of Lord Ram, saying: “Uddhav ‘sahab’ has always invoked the name of Lord Ramchandra.”

Addressing Eknath Shinde, he said: “If you (Shinde) had such strong feelings for Hindutva, why did you stay in power with him (Thackeray) for two and a half years? Why did you enjoy power with him? Did you recognise this after two and a half years? You are the ones who left fearing the ED, you are cowards…traitors.”

“One who (Shinde) stabbed a ‘saint’ kind of a person (Thackeray) and ran away, such fugitives will now speak about Hindutva? Does he have the right to say this?” Sawant said.

Addressing the media, Shiv Sena-UBT MP Sanjay Raut compared the Siddhivinayak Temple Trust to that of the Ram Temple, saying, “Our people had carried out so much good work there, like helping out the poor and needy, but now it (the Trust) comprises corrupt people.”

“Eknath Shinde is angry because we are still not allowing them to steal from there,” he remarked.

Maintaining that a proper inquiry should be conducted and the guilty must face action, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) leader Yashwant Killedar said: “But I don’t think they (government) will do that because the entire system is under their control.”

He claimed that Siddhivinayak Temple Trust Chairman and Shiv Sena MLA Sada Sarvankar got Rs 500 crore in funds sanctioned during the ongoing tenure of Eknath Shinde as Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister for “beautification of the temple”.

“What was the need? Does beautification take this much money at a small place like this? And even if they want to do so, the Siddhivinayak Temple itself has sufficient money. In fact, it donates to other Trusts for social causes. So, some kind of corruption is going to take place here as well, which we are opposing,” Killedar said.

NCP-SP leader Naseem Siddiqui questioned Eknath Shinde: “When you were the Chief Minister, why did you not set up an inquiry committee? Now, with his statements, there appears to be a political angle to it.”

He further said that a probe should be conducted if there are indeed some irregularities, “but if not, then the sanctity of the temple should not be messed with by making such allegations”.

Meanwhile, Shiv Sena spokesperson Krishna Hegde termed the Deputy CM’s allegations as “serious”.

While referring to the SIT probe and arrests made into the allegations of donation theft at the Ram Temple, he said: “There should be a proper probe into the allegations (at Siddhivinayak Temple), and the guilty should be arrested.”

–IANS

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