With the speculation about an imminent split in the Shiv Sena (UBT) intensifying, Mumbai Congress president Varsha Gaikwad on Wednesday said it was an insult to the people's mandate.
The opposition fought the 2024 Lok Sabha elections unitedly against the BJP to "protect the Constitution", but some MPs elected on an anti-BJP platform were now choosing to side with the ruling side, the Mumbai North Central MP said in a statement.
Shiv Sena (UBT) and Congress are part of the Opposition's Maha Vikas Aghadi in Maharashtra along with the NCP(SP). "The people had voted against the BJP, but these MPs have disregarded that mandate and gone and sat in the BJP's lap," she said, referring to reports that several of the nine Sena (UBT) Lok Sabha members were about to exit.
The BJP's political strategy was to split opposition leaders, and, if that failed, to break entire parties and poach elected representatives, the Congress leader said.
The developments in the Shiv Sena (UBT) were a "grave insult" to democracy and the electorate, said Gaikwad. "Those for whom we campaigned day and night have betrayed the trust reposed in them," the Congress leader said, while condemning the BJP and those who were "part of a conspiracy to undermine democracy." She also appealed to the defecting MPs to respect the sentiments of the people and act according to their conscience.
PTI