PUNE: Taking a jibe at Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray over his party's six MPs on the verge of joining Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena, Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Saturday said that other than Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena, there is no other Sena faction left now.
Shah visited Maharashtra's Kolhapur district to address a couple of rallies. The Union Home Minister arrived in the state against the backdrop of much-speculated 'Operation Tiger', where six rebel MPs of Uddhav's party are expected to join Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde's faction of Shiv Sena in the coming days.
During his public address, Shah referred to Shinde as the chief of Shiv Sena. “Earlier we were required to call it the Shinde faction (of Shiv Sena). However, now there are no other factions left,” Shah said.
The Union Home Minister criticised Uddhav Thackeray over his alliance with Congress. He said, “Uddhav is sitting on the lap of Congress, which uses infiltrators as its vote bank. I want to make it clear that India is not a 'Dharamshala'. All the infiltrators will be thrown out of the country.”
Mentioning the victory in West Bengal Assembly polls, Shah said, “While BJP was winning in various states, people would ask us what would happen to our party in Bengal. However, the people of Bengal blessed us with a massive victory.”
“BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi are indebted to the people of Bengal. I want to tell the people of Bengal that we will not only stop the infiltration from the border areas of Bengal, our govt will also ensure that every infiltrator of the country will be identified and thrown out of the country,” Home Minister asserted.
Shah was in Kolhapur district of Maharashtra, where he laid a foundation stone for the Rs 1,500 crore project for conservation and development work of Mahalaxmi Temple on Saturday.
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