Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut on Monday lashed out on BJP accusing the party of using ‘Hindutva’ to gain power. While talking to the media, he said, “We took BJP from bottom to top in Maharashtra. After Babri, there was a Shiv Sena wave in Northern India, if we had fought polls at that time, there would have been our (Shiv Sena) PM in the country but we left it for them.”
We took BJP from bottom to top in Maharashtra. After Babri, there was a Shiv Sena wave in Northern India,if we had fought polls at that time, there would have been our(Shiv Sena) PM in country but we left it for them. BJP only uses Hindutva for power: Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut pic.twitter.com/cDQKh8lzGJ
— ANI (@ANI) January 24, 2022
In his recent statement, he has taken a stand alleging a supposed wave of Shiv Sena in North Indian states, after the demolition of disputed structure often referred to as Babri Masjid at Ayodhya on December 6, 1992. He also claimed that had his party fought election that time, there would have been a Prime Minister from Shiv Sena leading the country. His claims that it was Shiv Sena which helped BJP gain power in Maharashtra came a day after Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray remarked that Shiv Sena had ‘wasted’ its time with BJP for 25 years.
Yesterday, Uddhav Thackeray, while speaking online at an event to commemorate the birth anniversary of late Shiv Sena Supremo Bal Thackrey had said, “Shiv Sena Pramukh had told us about Hindutva. We wanted power for Hindutva. What we are seeing now, the Hindutva that is practised by these people (BJP), is only a pretence. Their Hindutva is for power. They are only wearing a fake skin of Hindutva. People ask us whether we have left Hindutva. But we have left BJP and not Hindutva.” He added, “BJP does not mean Hindutva.”
It was in the 1990s during the Ram Mandir Movement that ‘Hindutva’ as a political ideology got acceptance among the masses. In the 1993 assembly elections of Uttar Pradesh, the Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP) emerged as the single largest party securing 177 out of a total of 425 seats. However, Mulayam Singh Yadav was sworn in as a chief minister as the face of his newly formed Samajwadi Party (SP) with an alliance with Mayawati’s BSP and support from Congress.
The strong undercurrents of Hindutva sentiments owing to the Babri demolition helped the BJP with a 33.3% vote share. Contrary to Raut’s claims, Shiv Sena as a regional party did participate in the Uttar Pradesh state elections but could bag only 1,38,919 total votes in the state. While Sena received a total vote share of only 0.28%, its candidates lost deposits from 179 out of 180 seats contested. Netizens were quick to point out the facts after Sanjay Raut’s statements emerged on Twitter.
Shiv Sena contested the UP Elections of 1993 after Babri
— Aashish (@kashmiriRefuge) January 24, 2022
Total Votes received by Shiv Sena in entire Uttar Pradesh in a “Sena Wave” of Raut was – 138,919 or 0.28%
Lost deposits in 179 out of 180 seats it contested 🤣
Kind of things Raut says and media publishes@iMac_too https://t.co/WbEwWDavT0 pic.twitter.com/LzN4Ncirjp
Results of 1993 UP elections in which Sena contested 180 seats held after Babri incident https://t.co/BnO9l8xPyG pic.twitter.com/q1y9trDBd9
— Divyendu Sathe (@divyendusathe) January 24, 2022
Shiv Sena has announced to contest 50-100 seats in upcoming UP assembly elections without any alliance as Congress, its ally in Maharashtra, has decided to fight solo.
