Mumbai: The Shiv Sena, an ally of the BJP in the Maharashtra Government, has criticized its Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis in its latest editorial: “What has changed with the new government? If someone knows please tell us.”
The Sena has highlighted the failures of its own government: the alleged failure to arrest the killers of communist leader and anti-toll tax campaigner Govind Pansare, who died last week days after being shot at by unknown gunmen. “It a repeat of rationalist Narendra Dabholkar’s murder”, the Sena said in its editorial in the party mouthpiece Saamna, commenting that “the Chief Minister and the government have changed but the system is the same.”
Mr Pansare, 82, was shot when he was on a walk with his wife on February 17. The activist had fought for years against the state government’s decision to charge citizens for road development.
“People are asking for the Chief Minister’s resignation as he is the home minister,” the Seba editorial said, calling Mr Fadnavis’ statement on catching Mr Pansare’s murderers “laughable.”
“Fadnavis said if police put in all their might then they might be able to catch the killers. He is the home minister of the same police he mistrusts,” the Sena said.
The party said the police could not be blamed as they are “not equipped,” adding, “Why are there no CCTV cameras everywhere?”
The Sena’s multiple attacks on the BJP have brought the rift between the long-time allies back into sharp focus. After a 25-year alliance, the two parties broke up just before the Maharashtra polls last year over seat sharing and later came together in an uneasy alliance to take power in the state.
