india

Updated: Feb 17, 2020 04:19 IST

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) national president JP Nadda on Sunday said the Uddhav Thackeray-led Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government was “unnatural” and “unrealistic” and vowed that his party would come back to power on its own in the next elections, at the state executive conclave in Navi Mumbai on Sunday.

He also accused the Shiv Sena of betraying people for “personal interests”. “The Shiv Sena- NCP-Congress alliance is unnatural and unrealistic. Differences will soon arise. Veer Savarkar is being attacked, Shivaji Maharaj is being insulted, but the ruler has remained quiet. There will be repercussions,” said Nadda, in his address to the party cadre at Nerul.

Ruling out a tie-up with any other party in the state, Nadda said, “I can see that the next assembly elections in the state will be one-sided for the BJP. We will not need anyone else.”

The party will hold an agitation on February 22 to “expose the MVA government’s anti-people policies”.

Nadda also backed Modi government’s decisions such as scrapping of Article 370 for Kashmir, CAA and triple talaq, stating the party did not believe in appeasement but development.

Newly reappointed state chief Chandrakant Patil, too, addressed the cadre, and the conclave was concluded by former chief minister Devendra Fadnavis. Thackeray had, a day ago, challenged the BJP to bring down his government. In retort, Fadnavis said, “We are not dreaming of bringing down your government. But if you have the guts, why don’t you face people and the polls again. Then you will see which government people prefer,” said Fadnavis. “Some people are like fish out of water. They will do whatever they have to to come to power. They will divide people and make them fight. CAA is not against anyone, however, attempts are being made to confuse people. This is a battle of perception.”

Slamming NCP chief Sharad Pawar, he said, “Pawar recently claimed the CAA will have an impact on tribals, nomadic tribes and backward classes. This is not true. Does Pawar not know this? He is trying to confuse people. I challenge him to show how CAA impacts tribals and if he can’t, he should publicly apologise to PM Modi.’’

The party also exuded confidence that it will win the Navi Mumbai and Aurangabad civic elections in the coming months.

Among the attendees were Union minister Piyush Goyal, former chief minister Narayan Rane, party’s Maharashtra observer MP Saroj Pandey, MLAs Ganesh Naik, Manda Mhatre, BJP leaders Udyan Raje Bhosale, Pankaja Munde, Kirit Somaiya, Vinod Tawde, among others.

Responding to Nadda and Fadnavis’s remarks, Shiv Sena leader Vijay Nahata said, “Uddhavji never asked for any post. He only expected a letter or statement of confirmation of the word given by Amit Shah. They have not kept the word that was given by Amit Shah...They then suddenly took a U-turn and said no promise was made.