Shiv Sena supporters have gone online to lambast the Bharatiya Janata Party for ‘breaking off’ the 25-year-old alliance.
Over the past week, images and messages targeting the BJP have been doing the rounds on WhatsApp and Facebook.
The BJP has been accused of striking a deal with the Nationalist Congress Party and betraying the Sena.
One such image depicts the BJP and the NCP as a couple in love while another shows the BJP’s lotus symbol as a weapon that stabs a Shivsainik and bears the caption “You have forgotten Sena founder Bal Thackeray’s favours.”
Another picture declares that the Sena will contest the election independently and show the “Lotus its rightful place — the mud.”
One photo claims that “the Gujarati wave will destroy Maharashtra” and asks people to vote for the Sena.
Another shows the party’s historical icon Chhatrapati Shivaji telling a Muslim king named Shah — an apparent dig at BJP chief Amit Shah — that he will not bow before him.
A WhatsApp message that has gone viral reads: “When these Shahs [Adil and Qutub, who fought Shivaji for control of the State] couldn’t win us, who is this Amit Shah to conquer us?”
No official sanctionThe Sena, however, denied any official sanction for these messages. “Our party has nothing to do with such messages. But how can we stop our party activists from expressing their emotions,” said Harshal Pradhan, who handles the Sena’s IT cell.
The BJP refused to take cognisance of the online campaign.
