AAP and DMK must set aside their differences with Cong to fight against 'dictatorship': Sena (UBT)

MUMBAI: With the AAP and DMK staying away from the INDIA bloc's protest against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, the Shiv Sena (UBT) on Thursday said the two parties must set aside their differences with the Congress to fight against "dictatorship".

In an editorial in Shiv Sena (UBT) mouthpiece 'Saamana', the party said the entire country has been witnessing protests against the Special Intensive Revision (SIR).

"But the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) have stayed away from it," it said.

The party said the AAP has differences with the Congress. "But the AAP and the Congress should at least come together to release the country from the shackles of dictatorship," the Uddhav Thackeray-led party said.

AAP's convenor Arvind Kejriwal has bitter experience with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and the Election Commission. While Kejriwal was the chief minister of Delhi, he was put behind bars in a "false" case. Kejriwal's defeat was engineered by deleting names of voters from his constituency, it alleged.

So it is not in the AAP's interest to stay away from the INDIA bloc, the party said.

Even if Punjab assembly polls, where the two parties are principal opponents, could be a matter of dispute, Kejriwal should take part in the fight against Modi and Shah, the Sena (UBT) added.

The DMK was defeated in Tamil Nadu and C Joseph Vijay's TVK came to power with the help of the Congress. This riled the DMK, the editorial said, adding, "But this stand of the DMK is not in the interest of the country."

The Sena (UBT) lauded the stand of Naveen Patnaik-led Biju Janata Dal (BJD), which participated in the INDIA bloc's protest against CEC.

The opposition offensive against the CEC picked up further pace on Wednesday as Rahul Gandhi led the INDIA bloc leaders' street protests in Delhi for the second consecutive day before being detained again along with many MPs by police amid dramatic scenes of resistance.

While Akashvani Bhawan in the national capital was the epicentre of Tuesday's protest where Rahul Gandhi staged an over eight-hour sit-in along with his sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and other leaders till their forcible removal, Wednesday evening saw a confrontation between police and protesting leaders.