Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati on Sunday accused the Congress of duplicity by continuing its alliance with the Shiv Sena in Maharashtra.

Mayawati, in a series of tweets, said that the Shiv Sena had stayed true to its roots by voting in favour of the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill in the Lok Sabha, and had also opposed the Congress’ stand on Hindutva icon Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, but the Congress continued to remain part of the Maharashtra alliance.

“The Shiv Sena remains committed to its basic agenda, and that is why it supported the Centre on the Citizenship Amendment Bill,” the Bahujan Samaj Party chief tweeted. “And now it is not ready to tolerate the Congress’ stand even on Savarkar. But the Congress party is continuing its alliance with the Shiv Sena in Maharashtra. What is it if not the duplicity of the Congress?”

The Shiv Sena had backed the Centre on the Citizenship Amendment Bill in the Lok Sabha, but had staged a walkout from the Rajya Sabha when the bill was tabled. The party is a governing Maharashtra in alliance with the Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party. The alliance was formed after the Shiv Sena fell out with the Bharatiya Janata Party on sharing the chief minister’s post following the Maharashtra elections. Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray is now the Maharashtra chief minister.


Congress leader Rahul Gandhi had on Saturday said at a “Bharat Bachao” (Save India) rally at Ramlila Maidan in New Delhi that his name is not “Rahul Savarkar”. This statement led to a backlash not just from the BJP but also from the Shiv Sena.

“We respect Pandit [Jawaharlal] Nehru and Mahatma Gandhi,” the party’s leader Sanjay Raut tweeted. “You should not insult Veer Savarkar. No further explanation is needed for anyone sensible.”