"PM Modi Made Childish Statements Which Backfired": Sena On BJP Rout

Shiv Sena accused the BJP of first defeating friends, and now losing crucial Hindi-belt states.

The Shiv Sena today said that the BJP's dreams of making India Congress-mukt, or Congress-free, have failed after the party tasted defeat on Tuesday in three crucial states where it was in power. Clobbering edits by the Shiv Sena mouthpieces also said that while PM Modi and Amit Shah have been sidelined, Congress President Rahul Gandhi is a "shining star" of merit.

"Now, as the PM, these states have given a solid drubbing to the BJP. While its invincible bastions like Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh have fallen, in Telangana, BJP' tally is lower than Congress' and in Mizoram, it was decimated," the Shiv Sena said.

Shiv Sena is an ally of the ruling BJP at the Centre and in Maharashtra.

Five years ago when Narendra Modi's name was first proposed as PM, the same states had gone to polls where he had successfully campaigned. The victories back then were dubbed as his "auspicious entry" for the BJP.

"The Congress has snatched Chhattisgarh from BJP, though its Chief Minister Raman Singh was powerful there, but the the Chanakya brains of BJP attempted to divide-and-rule by propping up Ajit Jogi in the elections.

"Similarly, though 'Mamaji' Shivraj Singh Chauhan was even more popular than PM Modi in Madhya Pradesh, the Congress caught the lion by the nape, and stopped the BJP's chariot from rolling further.

"In Rajasthan, the Congress could have easily crossed 140 seats, but due to infighting it was arrested at 100, though nobody can stop it from forming the government there," the Shiv Sena said.

"All these (five) states have given a clear message of a 'BJP-mukt' India. The BJP felt it was destined to win all elections and no other party could survive. But this bubble has been burst... You cannot always win by fooling people," it added.

Shiv Sena also accused the BJP of first defeating friends, and now losing crucial Hindi-belt states. "While the economy floundered, farmers suffered, unemployment soared, inflation skyrocketed, and all the time PM Modi was busy indulging in high-flying global affairs".

Instead, he sought to raise emotional issues which were rejected by the voters in these latest elections, the Shiv Sena said.

"Rahul Gandhi prevents me from uttering 'Bharat Mata ki Jai' and creates 'obstacles in building Ram temple'... PM Modi made such childish statements, which recoiled on him... He never asked the Gandhi family before carrying out surgical strikes and demonetisation, and PM Modi has failed to fulfill the temple promise," Shiv Sena's edit said.

The Shiv Sena claimed that Urjit Patel, who supported the November 2016 notes ban, quit as Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor in "frustration". "India is being run by the brains of a handful of industrialists and institutions like RBI are crumbling. Nowhere in the world such an economic chaos been witnessed."

However, the people of these five states, fearlessly voted the BJP out without going into questions of "There is no alternative" factor, money and muscle power, the Electronic Voting Machines scam, and dashed the high-flyers into the dirt, the Shiv Sena said.