Palghar bypoll: EC acting like mistress of a political party, says Shiv Sena

Mumbai: Shiv Sena's verbal assault on BJP seems to have no end with Sanjay Raut of the party on Wednesday charging the Election Commission of failing to act against BJP workers accused of distributing money in the recent Palghar bypoll.

Raut claimed that his party workers had caught BJP workers distributing money during the Palghar bypoll and the matter was reported to the EC. "(But) The EC did not take any action. If similar inaction is shown by EC all over India, then it means EC is acting like a 'Tawaif' (Mistress) of a political party," he told news agency ANI.

Like Raut, several Shiv Sena leaders - including chief Uddhav Thackeray - have taken sharp pot shots at the BJP. Earlier this week, Thackeray called the party 'murderous' in an editorial in party mouthpiece Saamna. "Today, the BJP has become a mad murderer that stabs anybody coming in its way," he wrote, before adding that he felt like hitting UP CM Yogi Adityanath with his own footwear because he had not removed his chappal when putting a garland around a photo of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. Adityanath had promptly returned fire.

Shiv Sena and BJP have always had a love-hate relationship. The two parties had entered into an uneasy alliance to form the government in Maharashtra but Shiv Sena eventually pulled out and has now said it would fight the 2019 Lok Sabha elections on its own. Many of its leaders have since also voiced support for prominent members of the opposition whom the BJP has targeted for one reason or the other.