Time to stand up to the BJP’s “corruption washing machine”: Team Uddhav

Bombay:

Shiv Sena’s Uddhav Thackeray-led group said on Monday it is time to stand up to the Bharatiya Janata Party’s “corruption washing machine” to save the country, citing opposition leaders’ letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi saying the “authoritarian regime”.

In an editorial published in its mouthpiece Saamana, the Shiv Sena said harassing the opposition and staying in power does not bode well for democracy.

Leaders of nine opposition parties, including Prime Ministers Mamata Banerjee and K Chandrashekar Rao, have written to the Prime Minister about “blatant abuse” of central agencies against members of the opposition.

Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar and Uddhav Thackeray are the signatories from Maharashtra.

“Now is the time to stand up to the BJP’s ‘corruption washing machine’ and save the country. A letter signed by several opposition leaders, including former Prime Minister Uddhav Thackeray and addressed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has shed light on the authoritarian regime in the country,” said the Saamana.

The “washing machine” analogy is often used by leaders of Shiv Sena (Uddhav camp) to attack the BJP for intruding “corrupt” leaders into that party and extending “protection” to them.

The letter has pointed to an increase in actions against opposition leaders since 2014, when the BJP came to power in the country. But the leaders who joined the BJP and who joined the BJP never took any action. most such cases were false,” the letter said.

The Uddhv Thackeray group said the country is witnessing “unprecedented chaos” under the Modi government.

“Autonomous government institutions are being privatized. This is more dangerous than Al Qaeda and Taliban. The Election Commission of India is wagging its tail for the BJP, which is why the Supreme Court has ordered the formation of a three-member commission for its future appointments,” he said.

The edit also referred to the “Insaaf ke sipahiplatform launched by renowned lawyer Kapil Sibal to help the people fight injustice with lawyers at the forefront.

It is not good for democracy to harass the opposition and stay in power.

The Udddhav Thackeray camp also questioned the BJP’s criticism of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi over his speech at Cambridge University, in which he had said that Indian democracy is under attack and that several politicians, including himself, are being watched .

“If he slandered the country, one has to wonder if Narendra Modi’s claims made during his speeches during his past foreign trips against Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi and their regimes didn’t slander the country?” asked the editor.

The Sena faction’s alleged corruption cases against BJP leaders are suppressed.

“It is now clear that the BJP, who has amassed thousands of crores through corrupt practices, invested (the money) through (Gautam) Adani and turned them into white money. Several PSU banks and LIC lost their investments. PM Modi speaks against corruption, but it is the most corrupt regime,” the editorial said.

The Uddhav Thackeray-led camp also claimed that the CBI and ED “are still not seen anywhere, despite Rs 8 crore cash found at the residence of a BJP lawmaker in election-strapped Karnataka. No BJP leader is willing to talk about it”.