Mumbai, Aug 11 (IANS) The BJP on Monday sharply criticised Shiv Sena (UBT) for the party’s protest demanding the removal of tainted ministers from the BJP-led MahaYuti government in Maharashtra.

Revenue Minister and former state unit chief Chandrashekhar Bawankule targeted Uddhav Thackeray and claimed, “Who is the leader of extortionists? The public knows. What’s more, in the Assembly elections, the people of Maharashtra have clearly shown who is the ‘Chief Minister’ and who is the ‘Thief Minister.’

“Is Waze some kind of Laden (Osama Bin Laden)? The public hasn’t forgotten that under your leadership, a hundred crore extortion racket was running by placing gelatin outside industrialists’ homes.”

“So, before criticising respected Devendra ji, recall your own past and think before you speak,” remarked Bawankule in his post on X.

“As for the rest, Maharashtra has seen your worth in the last row of the INDIA alliance. Even today, you didn’t join the protests in Delhi because you’d have to stand in the last row, and instead, you staged a protest here with a few claps. While Rahul Gandhi’s protest was going on there, you tried in vain to draw attention by setting up your own separate stove.

“Uddhav ji, when you were Chief Minister, you had strangled democracy and morality. Before pointing fingers at an honest leader like Devendra, you should look at yourself in the mirror. Devendra Fadnavis’ work is not just about a corruption-free Maharashtra but also about providing a stable, development-oriented, and transparent administration. The people of Maharashtra have full faith in CM Devendra’s leadership. They are fed up with you,” said Bawankule.

On the other hand, BJP legislator Atul Bhatkhalkar attacked Thackeray saying that the people of Mumbai were laughing at him for staging a protest against him, especially when during the Shiv Sena rule in the BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation several cases of corruption including Mithi river clean up, ‘khichadi’ distribution during the Coronavirus, among others, were reported.

“During two-and-half years of chief ministership, Uddhav Thackeray did not visit Mantralaya but operated from home. Now he has hit the streets against corruption. Tell the people, why did you not come to Mantralaya in two-and-half years.

“The sitting chief minister (Devendra Fadnavis) enacted the Lok Ayukta legislation to include the chief minister in it, but you and your party opposed it. Why did you oppose that provision? So those who have looted BMC for 15 years are now protesting against the corruption. The citizens of Mumbai are laughing at you,” he claimed.

–IANS

sj/rad