WATCH | Shiv Sena MP Recites Hanuman Chalisa in Lok Sabha, Slams Uddhav Sena Over Alliance With Cong

Lashing out at Uddhav Thackeray, Shiv Sena MP Shrikant Shinde on Tuesday recited “Hanuman Chalisa” in Lok Sabha alleging that it was not allowed in Maharashtra during the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) regime.

Shinde, who is the son of Maharashtra chief minister Eknath Shinde, was speaking during the debate on the no-confidence motion in the lower house of the Parliament.

He said no one had thought that the Shiv Sena, which witnessed a split last year after Eknath Shinde’s rebellion, would enter into an alliance with Congress.

Without naming Uddhav Thackeray, he said they cheated the voters of Maharashtra and moved away from the ideology of Shiv Sena founder Balasaheb Thackeray.

In Maharashtra last year, a row erupted when Amravati MP Navneet Rana and her MLA-husband Ravi Rana were arrested for announcing to recite the ‘Hanuman Chalisa’ outside Uddhav Thackeray’s residence in Mumbai.

Shinde then said he know the whole “Hanuman Chalisa” and started reciting the hymns.

Attacking I.N.D.I.A. alliance, the Shiv Sena MP said the opposition changed its name as the Congress-led UPA had become synonymous with corruption.

He described the opposition’s coalition as a “destructive alliance” and said the next elections will be fought on the issue of scams of the UPA and schemes of the NDA.

“It is not just NDA vs INDIA, but scheme vs scam. They have all gathered against one person. They have no leader or policy. Every leader here wants to be the prime minister because this team has no captain,” he said.

Shinde also accused the Thackeray-led Maharashtra government of indulging in corrupt practices instead of taking steps to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic.

Uddhav Sold Hindutva Ideology: Shrikant Shinde

Shinde said the Uddhav Thackrey faction of Shiv Sena cheated voters as they had gone to polls with the BJP in 2019 but later the alliance was broken.

“In 2019 people gave the mandate to Shiv Sena and BJP together. But such a situation was created… He felt I should become the chief minister. They did not care about Bala Saheb’s ideology, Hindutva ideology. They sold the Hindutva ideology and stepped away from Bala Saheb’s ideology,” Shinde charged.

“No one could have imagined Shiv Sena will have an alliance with Congress. Those who formed this government cheated the voters. They even had an alliance with SP which fired on kar sevaks,” he said in an apparent reference to the incident in Ayodhya on October 30, 1990 when the late Mulayam Singh Yadav was the chief minister.

(With PTI inputs)