‘Uddhav Thackeray didn’t order CBI probe due to …’: BJP chief JP Nadda on Palghar lynching case

Chandrapur: BJP national president J P Nadda on Monday made a scathing attack on Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) faction head Uddhav Thackeray for not ordering a CBI probe into the alleged lynching of two sadhus by a mob in Maharashtra’s Palghar in April 2020. Addressing a public rally in the Chandrapur assembly constituency which the BJP failed to retain in 2019 Lok Sabha polls, Nadda also slammed Uddhav for the ill-treatment given to sadhus and seers during the MVA rule.

“You saw how Sadhus were treated in Palghar and the son of ‘Hindu Hriday Samrat’ didn't hand over the inquiry to CBI due to pressure from NCP and Congress,” the BJP chief said in Chandrapur, Maharashtra.

 

You saw how Sadhus were treated in Palghar and the son of Hindu Hriday Samrat didn't hand over the inquiry to CBI due to pressure from NCP & Congress: BJP chief JP Nadda in Chandrapur, Maharashtra pic.twitter.com/R40RWCvSxm — ANI (@ANI) January 2, 2023

 

Training his guns at Uddhav Thackeray’s Shiv Sena-led MVA coalition government in Maharashtra, Nadda said, “For us, JAM stands for 'J' for Jan Dhan, 'A' for Aadhaar & 'M' for Mobile but for MVA govt JAM stands for Jointly Acquiring Money. They opened 3 shops of corruption - Uddhav, Congress and NCP.”

 

For us JAM stands for 'J' for Jan Dhan, 'A' for Aadhaar & 'M' for Mobile but for MVA govt JAM stands for Jointly Acquiring Money. They opened 3 shops of corruption - Uddhav, Congress & NCP. CM Shinde & Dy CM Fadnavis are taking the state on path of development: BJP chief JP Nadda pic.twitter.com/byClHoAozE — ANI (@ANI) January 2, 2023

 

The BJP president heaped praise on Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and his deputy Devendra Fadnavis, saying the two are taking the state on the path of development. It may be noted that the BJP chief is in Chandrapur from where he has launched a drive as part of the party's plan to win 18 "difficult" seats from Maharashtra in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

Nadda, besides addressing a rally in Chandrapur in east Maharashtra, is also due to address another one in Aurangabad in the Marathwada region. In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP failed to retain the Chandrapur constituency which was won by Congress, the only seat the Grand Old Party currently holds in Maharashtra which sends 48 members to the Lok Sabha.

According to sources, the BJP has revised its national target of the "difficult" Lok Sabha seats it is eying to win in the 2024 polls to 160 from 144, according to sources. In Maharashtra, the saffron party has identified 18 "difficult" constituencies, they said.

In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP won 23 of the 25 seats (out of the total 48) it contested in Maharashtra, while the party's then-ally Shiv Sena bagged 18. “Nadda after holding his first rally in Chandrapur will hold the second rally will take place in Sambhaji Nagar (Aurangabad) in the Marathwada region,” said Sanjay alias Bala Bhegade, coordinator for Lok Sabha meetings of the BJP.

For a long time, the Aurangabad Lok Sabha constituency was represented by the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena. In 2019, the Asaduddin Owaisi-led All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) wrested the Aurangabad seat from Shiv Sena.

After a split in the Shiv Sena last June, the BJP and the Balasahebanachi Shiv Sena led by Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde are eyeing this constituency. Nadda is being accompanied by Union Ministers from Maharashtra Nitin Gadkari and Raosaheb Danve, Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, and state BJP president Chandrashekhar Bawankule among others.