Uddhav Thackeray joining hands with MVA was treachery at its worst: Piyush Goyal

Union Minister Piyush Goyal launched a scathing attack on Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray, saying his decision to sever ties with the BJP in 2019 and join hands with the Congress and NCP (then undivided) was a “treacherous act” to forego the philosophy of his father and party founder Bal Thackeray.
He made the remarks in reference to the scenario following the 2019 Maharashtra Assembly polls, where the Shiv Sena (also undivided) led by Uddhav Thackeray, left the NDA after differences over sharing of the chief ministerial post. The junior Thackeray became the Chief Minister of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government, which comprised the Congress and NCP for three years till the collapse of his dispensation in 2022 after Sena leader Eknath Shinde rebelled against him.
“In 2019, the Shiv Sena fought with us and piggybacked on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s popularity. The people of Maharashtra praised the Modi-(Devendra) Fadnavis combination and voted for us. But, they (Shiv Sena) backstabbed us. Just for the lust of power, just for him (Uddhav Thackeray) to become the Chief Minister,” Piyush Goyal told India Today News Director Rahul Kanwal in an exclusive interview.
“They did this despite having half of the seats we had. It was a treacherous act to forego the philosophy of Balasaheb Thackeray. The Congress and Sharad Pawar’s NCP accepting the Shiv Sena into their fold was treachery at its worst,” he said.
The Union Minister said the mandate in the 2014 and 2019 Assembly polls in Maharashtra was for PM Modi and the Mahayuti alliance.
He also said that the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena and Ajit Pawar’s NCP were the ‘real’ Sena and ‘real’ NCP, respectively.
Asked whether the BJP was ready to welcome newly-elected Shiv Sena (UBT) MLAs into its fold after the results for this year’s Assembly polls were declared on Saturday, Piyush Goyal said, “We need not be worried about a few MLAs elected from their bandwagon. The real Sena with the electoral symbol of bow and arrow, which is working to make Balasaheb Thackeray’s ideology a reality, is the Sena led by Shinde.”
He called Ajit Pawar a “popular leader” of the NCP and slammed Sharad Pawar.
“I read an intriguing comment by Sharad Pawar that he founded the NCP. See, people form parties, but the ideology of the party is important. He did not stick to the party’s ideology and that is why more than 75-80 per cent of MLAs decided to stick with Ajit Pawar and almost all of them got re-elected. This clearly shows that Ajit Pawar’s leadership of NCP is the true leadership and they are with us,” the Union Minister said.
The BJP-led Mahayuti retained power, bagging a whopping 230 of 288 seats, with the BJP getting 132, Shiv Sena 57 and NCP 41. The alliance dashed the hopes of the Congress-led MVA, which was seeking to wrest power, and managed only 46 seats. The MVA parties – Shiv Sena (UBT) got 20 seats, Congress 16 and NCP (SP) 10.
Piyush Goyal said the NDA’s victory for a third consecutive term in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls was “remarkable, unprecedented and a matter of awe for the entire world”.
“In 2023 and 2024, the democratic countries in G20, for example, saw incumbent governments losing. Rarely does a government get re-elected. Here, people voted resoundingly for PM Modi and a government was repeated for the third time in 60 years. We had a loss in vote share of just 2 per cent, but we had the love and affection of the people,” he said.
The Union Minister said it was “unfortunate” that the BJP lost several seats by small margins in the Lok Sabha polls. The BJP failed to cross the majority mark of 272 for the first time in 10 years, getting 240 seats, and had to depend on allies like TDP and JD(U) to get across the line.
He said that the voter turnout was low as people had believed that PM Modi would be re-elected for a third time.
“It was the confidence and trust PM Modi earned among the people. In Haryana and Maharashtra, many voters who felt embarrassed and let down PM Modi for the wonderful work done for 10 years wanted to go out and vote with a vengeance to support him,” he said.