Vikhe Patil criticising Thorat out of 'desperation': Shiv Sena

The Shiv Sena on Monday said BJP leader Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil's criticism of Maharashtra Congress chief and political rival Balasaheb Thorat showed the saffron party leader's desperation of not being in power. An editorial in Sena mouthpiece 'Saamana' said Vikhe Patil's criticism of Thorat stemmed from the fact that despite joining the BJP ahead of the Assembly elections last year for power, he had to remain in the opposition, while the rival Congress leader is in the government.

Thorat, who is the state's revenue minister, met Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray last week amid talk of the Congress sulking over not having enough say in the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA-comprising the Shiv Sena, NCP and Congress) government. Thorat later said his party was not feeling sidelined and that the ruling alliance was stable.

After the meeting, Vikhe Patil, the former Congress leader who hails from Ahmednagar district as Thorat, had reportedly attacked the latter, saying he had never seen such a helpless for power state unit president of the party. Thorat later retorted, saying he had seen Vikhe Patil bow before the previous chief minister (Devendra Fadnavis).

Hitting out at Vikhe Patil, the Shiv Sena on Monday said, Vikhe should stay away from politics if he has forgotten the rule that those who live in a house of glass should not throw stones at others." It said Vikhe Patils criticism of Thorat stemmed from the fact that despite joining the BJP ahead of the last year's Assembly polls for power, he had to remain in the opposition, while the Congress leader is in the government.

"There should be a code of conduct in politics as to who should be called helpless in politics. One feels amused when leaders like Vikhe label Thorat as helpless, the Marathi publication said.

Accusing Vikhe Patil of not being loyal to any party he joined, it recalled that he had joined the Shiv Sena, but quit it after enjoying power, and joined the Congress later to be a minister. Vikhe Patil joined the BJP when he was still leader of the opposition. One has to work quite hard to inculcate such courage (not helplessness!). Thorat and others fell short of such an effort, the Sena said in sarcastic remarks.

It said the Congress did not suffer any loss after Vikhe Patil joined the BJP, but the saffron party also did not gain in any way. Vikhe Patil could have been the Congresss leader in the present state government had he not joined the BJP, but as luck would have it, that place went Thorats way, it said.

"The Thackeray government in Maharashtra is stable. The administration is being run respecting each other. Years ago, a (Marathi) film Thoratanchi Kamala (Thorats Kamala) was released. Now Vikhe-Patalanchi Kamala (Vikhe Patil's Kamala) film has been released and has flopped, it said.

"The BJPs party symbol lotus is called kamal in Marathi. We will see whether the Congresss bed squeaks(whether there are issues with Congress), but Vikhe's tour and travel company has shut, yet he is grumbling. Desperation, what else!" the Shiv Sena said.

The Sena further said the opposition party (BJP) has marred its own image as turncoats have joined its ranks. The earnestness of current Leader of the Opposition Devendra Fadnavis, a bitter critic of the MVA government, can be understood once, it said, and tagged him as a genuine worker of the BJP-Sangh family.

A vaccine might be found for (to combat) coronavirus, but it is difficult to find one for the earnestness of the opponents. At least Fadnavis is a genuine worker of the BJP-Sangh family. But we are surprised over the criticism of Thackeray government by those who had switched loyalties (to the BJP), the Shiv Sena said.