The Shiv Sena (UBT) on Friday launched a full-scale attack on Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) President Raj Thackeray for his comments alleging that his estranged cousin and former Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray was also liable for 'culpable homicide' for mishandling of the Covid-19 crisis.
After an earful by Sena (UBT) chief spokesperson Sanjay Raut, Deputy Leader Sushma Andhare shot off a letter, informing 'Dada' Raj (elder brother) that the Navi Mumbai tragedy of April 16 was a "man-made disaster" compared to the Covid-19 pandemic which was a natural calamity not created by Uddhav.
Adopting a sweet sisterly tone, Andhare lauded Raj for the "four-day delay but finally speaking about the tragedy" that claimed 14 lives, and then hit hard: "After the disaster, did you rush to meet the families of the victims?"
On the government's plea that the incident should not be politicised, the Sena (UBT) firebrand woman orator pointed out that it was Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and his Deputy Devendra Fadnavis who mobilised such a massive crowd to politically exploit the popularity of Appasaheb Dharmadhikari in that event.
Sena (UBT) national spokesperson Kishore Tiwari hit out at Raj Thackeray, reminding him that Uddhav Thackeray's Covid-19 pandemic management was appreciated not only by the whole world but also by the BJP government at the Centre.
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"Rather than running down the exemplary work of Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government, why can't Raj Thackeray give some good advice to the Shinde-Fadnavis regime whose performance has been disastrous for all sections of the population in the past nine months," Tiwari said in a potshot at the MNS leader.
Andhare sharply added that instead of arranging financial help to the MVA government and Uddhav Thackeray during the pandemic, Fadnavis and the BJP were busy donating money to the private PM Care Fund.
Earlier, Raut labelled Raj "as a pet parrot" of the BJP and asked him to make demands for culpable homicide against the Chief Ministers of Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat for their failure during the Covid-19 pandemic.
"Why only Uddhav Thackeray? Let them order similar investigations against the Chief Ministers of Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh. Remember those thousands of bodies dumped in the Ganga River in UP? Or the long queues of people waiting with bodies for cremation in Gujarat," Raut demanded.
As the bitter political row continued over the 'Maharashtra Bhushan Award' post-event tragedy, the government appointed a one-man committee to probe the issue, and earlier banned all similar open-air functions in the state from 12-5 p.m. during summer.
The opposition MVA has questioned how a government official could conduct an impartial probe when the Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Shinde, Fadnavis and other dignitaries were on the dais.
Nationalist Congress Party's Leader of Opposition (Assembly) Ajit Pawar has demanded a judicial probe by a retired judge, state Congress President Nana Patole wants a two-day Special Legislature Session to discuss the disaster, and Raut has alleged between 50-75 deaths necessitating culpable homicide charges.
