Three days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi challenged the Shiv Sena (Uddhav Thackeray) to get Congress to praise Balasaheb Thackeray, Rahul Gandhi on Sunday posted a tweet remembering the Shiv Sena founder on his death anniversary.
Rahul Gandhi tweeted, “Remembering Balasaheb Thackeray ji on his 12th death anniversary. My thoughts are with Uddhav Thackeray ji, Aditya and the entire Shiv Sena family.” Notably, this is the first time Rahul Gandhi has ever posted on the senior Thackeray on social media. Even though now Uddhav Thackeray is in the Congress camp, Bal Thackeray was a staunch opponent of the Congress party and its appeasement politics.
Remembering Balasaheb Thackeray ji on his 12th death anniversary. My thoughts are with Uddhav Thackeray ji, Aditya and the entire Shiv Sena family.
— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) November 17, 2024
Rahul Gandhi’s tweet comes after Narendra Modi on Thursday dared Uddhav Thackeray to get the “shehzada of Congress” to praise Balasaheb Thackeray. He said that Uddhav Thackeray has handed over the ‘remote control’ of his party to the Congress party.
PM Modi said in an election rally in Shivaji Park in Mumbai, “Mumbai is a city of self-respect, but a party in Maha Vikas Aghadi has handed over its ‘remote control’ to those who insulted Balasaheb Thackeray.”
He then added, “That is why I challenged them to get the Congress to praise Balasaheb Thackeray. To date, these people have not been able to get the Congress and the ‘shehzada’ of Congress to praise Balasaheb.”
However, while Rahul Gandhi tweeted about Bal Thackeray on his death anniversary, there no praise from him. The Congress MP only ‘remembered’ him, and there was no praise for the Shiv Sena founder as challenged by PM Modi. It is evident that Rahul Gandhi posted about Bal Thackeray only for political compulsions, because had he remained silent, he and Uddhav Thackeray would have been targeted by the ruling Mahayuti alliance.
But his remembrance of Bal Thackeray came across as a half-hearted effort, as there was no positive word for the deceased leader, which is customary for such messages.
