"Mayawati & Owaisi helped BJP, must get Padma Vibhushan or Bharat Ratna", says Raut

|HT|

In Uttar Pradesh, Mayawati and Asaduddin Owaisi "helped the BJP" win the state election, Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut said on Friday, launching a sharp attack as he also praised Akhilesh Yadav in the same breath. "The BJP achieved a great victory. UP was their state, still, Akhilesh Yadav's seats have increased three times, from 42 to over 125. Mayawati and Owaisi have contributed to the BJP win, so they must be given Padma Vibhushan, Bharat Ratna," the 60-year-old leader said. Mayawati's BSP got just one vote in UP while Owaisi's AIMIM got a vote share of .43 per cent, according to reports, Both the leaders said they accept "people's mandate"

Of the five states that voted in the last few weeks, the BJP has retained UP, Uttarakhand, Manipur and Goa. While praising the BJP's performance, the Sena leader also took a swipe at the party, "The BJP has won four states, we don't have anything to be upset about, we're a part of your happiness. Why did Uttarakhand Chief minister lose? Two deputy Chief ministers lost in Goa. Most concerning issue is Punjab." Raut also said that the party was "rejected completely" in Punjab. “The PM, Home Minister, Defence Minister, everyone campaigned tremendously in Punjab, then why did you lose? UP, Uttarakhand, Goa was yours already, which is fine. But, you have lost more in Punjab as compared to Congress and Shiv Sena in UP,” he added. The Shiv Sena had a poor performance in the Uttar Pradesh, Goa and Manipur assembly elections. According to Election Commission (EC) data, the party bagged fewer votes than the ones which went to NOTA (none of the above) in these three states.

However, Sena leader and Maharashtra minister Aaditya Thackeray was unfazed by the poor performance and said that it was just the beginning of an electoral journey for the party. "This is just a beginning," Thackeray said on Thursday, adding the Shiv Sena will win one day. He also said that the party will contest elections from the gram panchayat level to Parliament in the quest to expand its organisational base.

(Except for the headline and the pictorial description, this story has not been edited by THE DEN staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)