Mumbai: A day after the split in the saffron alliance, Shiv Sena on Friday lashed out at BJP, calling it “enemy of Maharashtra”, signalling a return to its original pro-Marathi agenda for next month’s assembly polls.
“Our other (Mahayuti) alliance parties wanted the Sena-BJP association to continue. More than that, it was what the 11 crore people of Maharashtra wanted. Those who trampled these sentiments are enemies of Maharashtra,” Shiv Sena said in an editorial in party mouthpiece ‘Saamana’
“This (breaking of alliance) is an insult to the 105 Marathi martyrs of the Samyukta Maharashtra movement,” the editorial went on to say. It also termed as “unfortunate” the demise of the long-standing alliance between the two ideologically compatible pro-Hindutva parties.
“It is unfortunate that the Sena-BJP alliance, which for the last 25 years was bound by the Hindutva ideology, has ended. We made sincere efforts till the end to ensure that the alliance with BJP and other parties of Mahayuti remained intact,” the editorial said.
“Those who till yesterday were praying in this tent are now offering namaz in the other tent,” it said, apparently targeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his recent remarks praising the “patriotism” of Indian Muslims. “Soon the realisation will dawn that those who flew away (BJP) were crows of ‘pitrapaksh’ and those who remain are Mavle (a term used for Chhhatrapati Shivaji’s soldiers),” the editorial said.
Referring to senior Congress leader Narayan Rane’s recent allegation that the BJP-led government at the Centre was trying to reduce the importance of Mumbai as the country’s financial capital by shifting RBI’s foreign exchange divisions to Delhi, the editorial said, “Today Congress leaders are decrying conspiracy to reduce the state’s importance. But Morarji Desai too was of flesh and blood of Congress.”
It was during Desai’s tenure as Chief Minister that 105 volunteers of the Samyukta Maharashtra Movement were killed while demanding a separate state for Marathi-speaking people with Bombay as its capital.

Frankfurt, Sept 26:
After an overnight transit halt here, Prime Minister Narendra Modi today left for his maiden visit to the US, during which he will address the UN General Assembly, hold talks with President Barack Obama and meet top American corporate honchos, besides a series of other engagements.
On his first leg of the high-profile five-day visit, Modi will land in New York, where he will address the 69th session of the UN General Assembly (UNGA) tomorrow and a rally at the famous Madison Square Garden on Sunday, which is likely to be attended by around 20,000 people from the Indian-American community.
Modi will have a summit-level meeting with Obama on September 30 and today in an op-ed in The Wall Street Journal, the Prime Minister described America as India’s “natural global partner’’.
“The US is our natural global partner. India and the US embody the enduring and universal relevance of their shared values,” Modi wrote.
Modi is visiting the US after being denied a visa in 2005 for his alleged role in the 2002 communal violence in Gujarat when he was the tate’s chief minister.
The Prime Minister will have a gruelling schedule in New York which includes a meeting with as many as 11 top corporate honchos over breakfast on September 29 apart from one-on-one meetings with six more business captains the same day.
In New York, Modi will pay a visit to the 9/11 memorial on Saturday following which he is expected to drive down to the United Nations headquarters to address the 69th annual session of the UNGA.
Obama will host a rare private dinner for Modi at the White House on September 29 to establish a personal relationship with the Indian leader ahead of summit talks the next day. The two leaders are meeting for the first time.
Modi will also be participating in a business meet, to be organised by the US-India Business Council (USIBC), expected to be attended by 300-400 businessmen in Washington on September 30.
Seeking enhanced ties, in the op-ed, Modi said the complementary strengths of India and the US can be used for inclusive and broad-based global development to transform lives across the world.
“This is a moment of flux in the global order. I am confident in the destiny of our two nations, because democracy is the greatest source of renewal and, with the right conditions, offers the best opportunity for the human spirit to flourish,” he said.