Amid intense war of words, Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray on Tuesday demanded the resignation of Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and sacking of BJP minister Chandrakant Patil for the later’s claim that the Balasaheb Thackeray-founded Shiv Sena has nothing to do with the demolition of Babri masjid at Ayodhya.
Patil, is the Higher and Technical Minister in the Shinde-led Shiv Sena-BJP government and in the past had served as the state BJP President.
Patil has claimed that not a single worker of the Shiv Sena was near the Babri Masjid in Ayodhya when it was brought down by the Bajrang Dal and Durga Vahini on 6 December, 1992.
However, Shiv Sena (UBT) has reacted sharply to Patil’s statement and the BJP’s central leadership.
Incidentally, the development comes just a couple of days after Shinde and Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis visited the sanctum sanatorium of Ram Lalla temple at Ram Janmabhoomi at Ayodhya and visited the site where the grand temple is coming up in the pilgrimage town.
Lashing out at BJP, Uddhav said: “When the Babri masjid was brought down these people were hiding like rats….it was Balasaheb who took the responsibility….a phone call came and Balasaheb said -“Babri padli, ti padnarya Shiv Sainikancha mala abhiman ahe” (I am proud of the Shiv Sainiks who razed Babri).”
In a swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he said: ““Even our Prime Minister, who was busy in the Bangladesh struggle, even though he might have been in the Himalayas then….Sundar Singh Bhandari had also said BJP was not a part of it. And that shiv sena and shiv sainiks were probably a part of it," Uddhav said.
According to him, “Minde” - a term that he uses often against Shinde - must resign. “He claims to take forward the legacy of Balasaheb…he should resign…Patil must resign…why resign, he should be sacked.
Uddhav’s close aide and Rajya Sabha member Sanjay Raut tweeted: “What will the 40 MLAs claiming to be the followers of Balasaheb Thackeray do now? Yesterday, they went to Ayodhya with the opponents of Balasaheb. Who will raise their voice against those who insulted Balasaheb.
Hitting further, Uddhav said: “This is nothing but an attempt to dilute Balasaheb's contributions in history. First they erased the Mughal era from history books, now they are trying to wipe out even Hindutva from the textbooks."
After Uddhav’s outburst, Patil, however, said that he had full respect for Balasaheb and reiterated the circumstances behind the mosque falling, and asserted that he had not insulted the late Shiv Sena founder.