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A day after Samajwadi Party (SP) leader Abu Azmi said his party would exit the Maha Vikas Aghadi alliance, Shiv Sena (UBT) legislator Aaditya Thackeray said the Samajwadi Party in Maharashtra sometimes behaved like "BJP's B Team". The Sena (UBT) leader clarified that his comments don't refer to Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav. "Akhilesh ji is fighting... but here, they sometimes behave like BJP's B team. We have seen this before as well," he said.
Mr Azmi's announcement followed a newspaper ad and a social media post by a Sena UBT legislative council member known to be close to party chief Uddhav Thackeray. On December 6, which marked 32 years of the Babri Masjid demolition in Ayodhya, Sena (UBT) leader Milind Narvekar put up a social media post with a picture of the demolition and a quote by Shiv Sena founder Bal Thackeray: "I am proud of those who did this". The poster also had pictures of Uddhav Thackeray and his MLA son Aaditya Thackeray.
In a strong response, Mr Azmi told news agency PTI, "An advertisement was given by Shiv Sena (UBT) in a newspaper congratulating those who demolished Babri masjid. His (Uddhav Thackeray) aide has also posted on X hailing the demolition of the mosque. We are quitting the MVA. I am speaking to (Samajwadi Party president) Akhilesh Yadav."
"If anyone in the MVA speaks such language, what is the difference between the BJP and them? Why should we stay with them?" he said, adding, "The Congress has to decide whether it can ally with someone who speaks like this."
Mr Thackeray today said, "Our Hindutva is clear, we have never said we are not Hindutvawadi. Our Hindutva has Ram in the heart and kaam (work) in the hands. Our Hindutva takes everyone together. B teams should not teach us, Maharashtra has seen Uddhav Thackeray took everyone forward together."
Aaditya Thackeray's remarks drew a response from Samajwadi Party MLA Rais Shaikh. "We have raised two questions. Firstly, are you moving towards a hardcore Hindutva ideology? Secondly, we asked, who gave you the votes? Without clarifying these points, Aaditya has made an accusation we strongly oppose. This is wrong, and we will talk to senior leaders regarding this."