The BJP on Wednesday criticized the meeting between Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav and Shiv Sena leader Aaditya Thackeray on planks as varied as an insult to the “greatness” of Bal Thackeray and insensitivity to Bihari sentiments.
Yadav’s RJD hit back, claiming that the saffron party was rattled by “opposition unity”, which has been achieved in Bihar and was taking shape in other states. “Late Bala Saheb Thackeray was a pious soul. He must be turning in his grave to learn what Aaditya, his grandson, is doing. What does the young leader expect to learn from Tejashwi who has accomplished little except amassing huge wealth in a short period of time?” said Jivesh Kumar, a former Bihar minister and BJP leader.
Similar views were expressed by state BJP spokesman Ram Sagar Singh, who also underscored the “Hindutva” leanings of his party’s former Maharashtra ally. “The people of Bihar are eager to see how much Aaditya Thackeray’s Hindutva rubs on Tejashwi Yadav,” he said in a tongue-in-cheek, but oblique reference to RJD’s plank of secularism.
Another BJP spokesman Nikhil Anand raked up the Sushant Singh Rajput suicide case to allege that the Uddhav Thackeray government had displayed an “anti-Bihari” mindset while getting the matter probed. In a statement, Anand insisted that the conduct of the then ruling ‘Maha Vikas Aghadi’ and its opposition to a CBI investigation “raises many doubts” and asked Tejashwi Yadav to “boycott” leaders like Aaditya Thackeray.
However, RJD spokesman Mrityunjay Tiwari responded to the BJP’s tirade saying “it is Aaditya Thackeray who is coming all the way to meet Tejashwi Yadav, and not the other way round. It shows the stature of our young leader and, indeed, is a matter of pride for Bihar, which has shown the way to all anti-BJP forces”. “The BJP should remember the abominable attitude of its leaders in states like Gujarat from where migrant workers were compelled to flee during the COVID lockdown. The aggrieved Biharis are going to punish the BJP, which also rules the Centre, in the next Lok Sabha polls,” Tiwari added.
