Uddhav Thackeray Hits Back - Indian Cricket Team Lost World Cup Due To Amit Shah's 'Putra Prem'

Aggrieved over Union home minister Amit Shah’s comments that Uddhav Thackeray’s party split because of his love for his son, the Shiv Sena (UBT) chief on Monday hit back at the former saying that the Indian cricket team lost the cricket world cup because of the BJP leader’s ‘putra prem.’

“I want to tell Amit Shah that India lost the final because of your ‘putra prem’ and the world cup slipped out of its hands. I did not go that extent,” said Thackeray in Mumbai.

Amit Shah’s son Jay Shah is the secretary of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), which had hosted the ODI World Cup in the country last year. However, instead of traditional historic centres like Mumbai or Kolkata, the final was played at the Narendra Modi Stadium at Ahmedabad in Gujarat. After India’s loss, the BCCI received a lot of flak for opting for a non-traditional venue for the final.

Thackeray’s dig at Amit Shah came after the union home minister on Sunday had said that the love for the son and daughter was responsible for the respective split in Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena and the NCP headed by Sharad Pawar and the BJP had not engineered splits in these parties.

Addressing a poll rally at Sakoli town in Bhandara district of Maharashtra, Shah slammed the opposition for blaming the BJP for breaking the parties. “The split in the Shiv Sena and NCP took place because of Uddhav’s love for his son (Aaditya Thackeray, an MLA) and Pawar’s love for his daughter (Baramati MP Supriya Sule),” he said.

Responding to it, Thackeray said, “I want to tell Amit Shah that you and your followers are talking different things. A few days back, (Devendra) Fadnavis had proudly claimed he came back to power by breaking two parties. Shah and his party leaders must at least maintain a common political line.”

Last month, Maharashtra deputy CM Fadnavis had countered the jibes he was subjected to over his “I will be back” slogan made ahead of 2019 Assembly polls by claiming he did return to power (in June 2022 following the rebellion by Eknath Shinde) and that too “after splitting two parties.”

The Shiv Sena split in June 2022, resulting in the collapse of Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi government, while the Sharad Pawar-founded NCP broke into two factions after Ajit Pawar joined the ruling alliance in July 2023.