Mumbai: A day after the BJP released its first list of 195 candidates for Lok Sabha election, Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray on Sunday took a dig at the BJP stating that Union minister Nitin Gadkari is not there in the list but tainted Kripa Shankar Singh has got ticket from UP’s Jaunpur seat. He also claimed that there is a massive unrest against the BJP in the country and if it wins the Lok Sabha election, it will be only because of the “EVM scam”.
Mr. Thackeray said that when Narendra Modi and Amit Shah were nowhere, Nitin Gadkari was known to the country. “I was surprised (over seeing the first list).... even before I had heard the names of Modi ji and Shah ji, I had heard the name of Gadkari and worked with him. He (Nitin Gadkari) is a loyal BJP worker. He had constructed the Mumbai-Pune Expressway, which was a dream project of Shiv Sena founder (Bal Thackeray), in record time. His name was not featured in the first list. But it contains the name of one whom they alleged to have disproportionate assets, Kripa Shankar Singh. This is today’s BJP,” the Sena (UBT) chief said.
Kripashankar Singh, a former state minister in the Congress- NCP government in Maharashtra, will be the BJP candidate from his hometown Jaunpur Lok Sabha Constituency in Jaunpur district of UP. In 2015, Mr. Singh and his family members were chargesheeted for possessing more assets than their known income. In 2019, he had resigned from the Congress stating he did not agree with the party’s stand on abrogation of Article 370. Subsequently, he joined the BJP in 2021.
The Sena (UBT) chief also claimed that the people of all walks of life are not happy with the current dispensation. “Everyone is upset with the current government except blind devotees (read BJP followers). There is a huge discontent amongst the industrialists, tillers and workers. Despite this, a picture is being portrayed that the BJP would win with help of the EVM. There will be massive unrest if the BJP wins,” he said.
