The Shiv Sena has always been a Hindutva party, Hemant Patil said (File)
A Shiv Sena MP in Maharashtra, Hemant Patil, has written to the administration in his constituency Hingoli in support of the citizenship law and the National Register of Citizens (NRC), which his party leadership has criticized.
The Shiv Sena voted for the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill in the Lok Sabha, but abstained in the Rajya Sabha, reportedly after new ally Congress, reached out to the party through Sharad Pawar.
"I could not join the rally in support of the CAA and NRC as I was busy in meetings. I express regret for that. I supported these issues in the Lok Sabha," Hemant Patil wrote in the letter that is not addressed to the district administration but not his party boss, Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray.
"The Shiv Sena has always been a Hindutva party. I fully support these two issues and I am writing to you for that," Mr Patil wrote.
Sources say the letter appears to be directed at a specific audience - the MP's voters in Hingoli. They see it as an effort by Mr Patil to keep his base happy and to stop the BJP, a long-term ally with which it severed ties last month, from taking away the Sena's space on Hindutva.
Divergent views on the citizenship law were the first major bump for the ideologically incompatible Shiv Sena and the Congress, which came together last month to form a government in Maharashtra along with Sharad Pawar's NCP.
The CAA makes religion a criterion for citizenship for the first time. The government says it will help non-Muslim minorities escaping religious persecution in Muslim-dominated countries to become Indian citizens. Opposition parties, activists and even some allies of the government, say the law discriminates against Muslims, and is therefore a violation of the constitution.
After the Sena voted with the government in support of the bill, a furious Rahul Gandhi tweeted that anyone supporting the law "is attacking and attempting to destroy the foundation of our nation".
Two days later, the Sena abstained from voting in the Rajya Sabha but it has been awkward for a party known for its pro-Hindutva ideology.
Uddhav Thackeray finally said the amended Citizenship Act was against the views of VD Savarkar, a Hindutva icon. "Savarkar's idea of India as one country from Sindhu river to Sindhu Mahasagar. Are you going to unite the country as Savarkar had visualized. You are calling the Hindus from those countries (Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh) which means you are neglecting Savarkar's thoughts," Mr Thackeray said. On Maharashtra enforcing CAA, the Chief Minister said the Supreme Court would first decide.