Shiv Sena snubs Didi: Keeping Cong away will strengthen BJP

Mumbai, December 4

In a snub to Trinamool Congress (TMC) chief Mamata Banerjee, whose party is engaged in a tussle with the Congress, the Shiv Sena on Saturday said keeping the grand old party away from national politics and creating an alliance parallel to the UPA without it was akin to strengthening the BJP and “fascist” forces.

In an editorial in party mouthpiece ‘Saamana’, the Sena said those who didn’t want a Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) should make their stand clear publicly.

It said if even those fighting the BJP felt that the Congress should cease to exist, “then this attitude is the biggest threat”, adding that if there was no Opposition unity, then the talk of a political alternative to the BJP must stop.

The Sena’s remarks come in the wake of Mamata’s recent statement that there was no UPA now. “After Mamata’s Mumbai visit, the Opposition parties have swung into action. — PTI