The Shiv Sena has taken a dig at Narendra Modi’s comment that he has no ambition to become the prime minister. An edit published in Shiv Sena mouthpiece Saamana has said that like Sharad Pawar, Mr Modi has also learnt lessons from history — that Delhi does not fulfil dreams of people who are highly ambitious.
The editorial has upset the BJP, which has asked its alliance partner to rethink whether such “editorials on Mr Modi every fortnight are needed”.
“In a function on the occasion of Teachers’ Day, Mr Modi told a student that he does not have the ambition of becoming the Prime Minister and wants to serve Gujarat till 2017. Mr Modi explained to that child how people harbouring ambitions of becoming the PM get destroyed and how it is more important to work than to dream. But, how is he going to explain these things to seniors in the BJP who are more than eager to make him the PM?” the editorial said. The edit is considered to be the view point of Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray, who is the editor of Saamana.
“(Former Prime Ministers) Chandrashekhar, Gujral and Deve Gowda never dreamt of becoming the PM. In fact, Rajiv Gandhi had also never dreamt of becoming the PM. Dr Manmohan Singh also did not dream about it even in the deepest of slumbers. It has been the tradition in Delhi to make the grazing horse victorious,” the editorial says. Further, taking a dig at NCP chief Sharad Pawar, the Sena mouthpiece said that the NCP leader could give better advice on it. “A seasoned player like Pawar has also already announced that he is not in the race for the PM’s post. Now Mr Modi has also slowed down his speeding horse.”
The edit has not gone down well with the BJP. State BJP president Devendra Fadnavis made no efforts to hide his displeasure. “What is the need to write an edit on Mr Modi every 15 days? Such articles only spread confusion in the rank and file of both the parties and every time Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray is forced to give explanations. Now, Shiv Sena leaders have to decide whether it is necessary to write such edits,” he said.
However, Shiv Sena spokesperson Sanjay Raut, who is also the executive editor of Saamana, said that the edit was not critical of Mr Modi. “Uddhavji had welcomed the move to make Mr Modi chief of BJP’s election campaign. The Saamana edit has merely questioned how Mr Modi is going to make people from his party understand that he does not harbour any ambition to become the PM,” Mr Raut said.