The political scenery in Maharashtra saw a war of words between Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, chief of the Shiv Sena, and President of Shiv Sena Uddhav Thackeray after the latter asked him why he maintained a silence on Vijay Wadettiwar's controversial comments recently.
The controversy was triggered by the suggestion of Vadettiwar, the Opposition leader in the state Assembly, that late ATS chief Hemant Karkare wasn't killed by terrorists during the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks, causing a massive political firestorm throughout Maharashtra.
Following a MahaYuti meeting focused on party nominee Naresh Maske's electoral preparations, CM Shinde didn't beat around the bush, stating that Balasaheb Thackeray would have been aghast at Uddhav Thackeray's ideological compromises.
It appeared that the CM had a lot to say about the insensitive remarks made by Wadettiwar, whom he described as "provocative," especially in view of all the civilians and policemen who sacrificed their lives during the 26/11 attacks. "Wadettiwar might have been under Rahul's divide and rule blunder," Shinde said, implying that he should have instead chanted 'Bharat Jodo Nahi' instead of the Congress leader's 'Bharat Todo Yatra' slogan.
Shinde further reminded him of the long-standing commitment of organizations like the RSS to nationalistic ideals, citing lawyer Ujjwal Nikam's tireless pursuit of justice against traitors in the past.
Ujjval Nikam was the attorney for victims of the 1993 Mumbai bombings who served as the lawyer for 26/11 families, and his case had seen little progress till a few weeks ago. Balasaheb Thackeray, who was hailed as the 'Hindu Hridya Samrat,' his own nephew, Uddhav Thackeray, would have been least amused by the current state of affairs, Shinde warned. These current affairs, he said, had insulted the common people, and this type of deceit wouldn't go unpunished.
