Union Minister Piyush Goyal lashed out at Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray, saying it was his decision to break ties with the BJP in 2019 and join the Congress and the (then undivided) NCP by abandoning the philosophy of his father and his party. founder Bal Thackeray. The decision was a “treacherous step.” He made this comment on the scenario after the 2019 Maharashtra Assembly elections, when Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (Undivided) quit the NDA following differences over the Chief Minister’s post.
Piyush Goyal said in an exclusive interview with India Today News Director Rahul Kanwal, “In 2019, Shiv Sena fought with us and took advantage of Prime Minister Modi’s popularity. The people of Maharashtra trusted the Modi-Fadnavis combine and voted for us. But they (Shiv Sena) stabbed us in the back, only out of greed for power, only for the Chief Minister’s chair.
‘That was a treacherous step by Uddhav Thackeray’
He said: “They did it even though we had half the seats.” Abandoning the philosophy of Balasaheb Thackeray was a treacherous step. It was a betrayal on the part of Congress and Sharad Pawar’s NCP to accept Shiv Sena into their fold.
The Union Minister said the mandate in the 2014 and 2019 assembly elections in Maharashtra was for Prime Minister Modi and the Mahayuti alliance. He also said that Shiv Sena-led Eknath Shinde is the “real” Shiv Sena and Ajit Pawar’s NCP is the “real” NCP.
‘Shiv Sena-led Shinde is the real deal’
When asked if the BJP is ready to welcome the newly elected Shiv Sena (UBT) MLAs after this year’s assembly election results, Piyush Goyal said, “We have to worry about some of their Elected MLAs. Not necessary.” The real Shiv Sena with the electoral symbol of bow and arrow, which is working to realize Balasaheb Thackeray’s ideology, is the Shinde-led Shiv Sena. He described Ajit Pawar as a “popular leader” of the NCP and criticized Sharad Pawar.
‘Ajit Pawar’s leadership is true leadership’
Piyush Goyal said, ‘I read an interesting comment by Sharad Pawar that he had founded NCP. Look, people form parties, but the ideology of the party is important. He did not stick to the party ideology and that is why more than 75-80 per cent of the MLAs decided to stay with Ajit Pawar and almost all of them were re-elected. It is clear from this that NCP leadership Ajit Pawar is the real leadership and he is with us.
Piyush Goyal said the NDA’s victory for the third consecutive time in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections was “unprecedented and a surprise to the entire world”. The Union Minister said it was “unfortunate” that the BJP lost many seats in the Lok Sabha elections by very small margins. The BJP failed to cross the majority mark of 272 for the first time in 10 years, winning 240 seats and had to rely on allies like the TDP and JD(U) to cross the line.
‘Maharashtra and Haryana voters wanted to vote for PM Modi’
He said the voting percentage was low because people believed that Prime Minister Modi would be re-elected for the third time. The Union Minister said, “This was the trust that Prime Minister Modi earned among the people.” In Haryana and Maharashtra, many voters who were embarrassed and had disappointed Prime Minister Modi wanted to come out and vote to support him strongly.’
