The Samajwadi Party (SP) on Saturday announced that it is leaving the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) alliance in Maharashtra, saying Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray has “returned to his old stand of justifying the Babri Masjid demolition”. was “unacceptable”.
“We have left the MVA. What is the point of continuing the front when there is no uniformity in the issue and adequate consultation with the allies? State SP chief Abu Azmi told the media on Saturday.
The development came after Thackeray’s close aide and MLC Milind Narvekar posted a picture of the Babri Masjid being destroyed on X. The photo also featured Shiv Sena founder Bal Thackeray, Uddhav and his son Aditya, with the caption: “Whoever did it, I am proud of them.” These were the exact lines spoken by the late Bal Thackeray on December 6, 1992 hours after the destruction of the mosque in Ayodhya.
“(Uddhav) Thackeray joined MVA in 2019. At that time, he pledged for secularism to win the support of Congress. After the defeat in the assembly elections, Thackeray has gone back to his old position of justifying the Babri Masjid demolition. This is unacceptable to us. That is why we have withdrawn from MVA. We have decided to leave,” said Azmi.
In the assembly elections, the Mahayuti won the state and the MVA suffered a defeat. SP had contested in nine seats but won only two seats.
“What is the use of continuing in MVA? They are not talking to us. We were not part of the strategy or ticket distribution,” said Azmi, who won from the Mankhurd Shivaji Nagar seat.
Azmi, who was sworn in as an MLA, also weighed in on the EVM controversy, saying, “I believe, keeping in mind the people’s demand, the Election Commission should replace EVMs with ballot papers. There are doubts about the functioning of EVMs. It is said that they can be hacked and manipulated to make a party win or lose.” “
Reacting to the development, a senior Congress leader said, “Every party has the right to take its own decisions”. “After the (MVA)’s good performance in the Lok Sabha, all the smaller parties asked to rally around the Congress. Now they want to live independently after the defeat,” the leader said.