Mumbai:
The Shiv Sena on Monday took a dig at the Centre over the economic slowdown with an iconic dialogue from Hindi blockbuster movie ‘Sholay’, While targeting the BJP, the Sena – an alliance partner of the Bharatiya Janata Party – said the slowdown is evident because of ‘silence’ in markets on the occasion of Diwali celebrations and wondered if worse days were ahead.
“...Itna sannata kyon hai bhai (why is there so much silence)?” is the question resonating everywhere on “silence” over the future of the country and Maharashtra, the Sena said in an editorial in party mouthpiece ‘Saamana’.
"The 'dhoom-dhadaka' of fire-crackers are missing from this year's Diwali. Sales everywhere are down by 30-40 percent. "Itna Sannata Kyun Hain Bhai"? The country is facing an economic crisis... The condition of the Indian economy is worsening instead of improving," the Sena warned in strong edits in the party mouthpieces 'Saamana' and 'Dopahar Ka Saamana'.
"The 'Mai-Baap Sarkar' at the Centre says it will double farmers' incomes, but some or the other natural calamities keep hitting them in the form of drought or floods. Due to demonetization and GST, factories are threatened, industries and businesses are shutting, employment generation is badly affected with even the banks going bankrupt," said the Sena.
The Sena used the famous dialogue, mouthed by veteran actor late AK Hangal in ‘Sholay’, to raise questions over what it termed as the ‘gloomy’ picture of the economy, and blamed the government’s decisions of demonetisation and “faulty implementation” of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) for the present situation in the country.
Several banks are facing financial crisis and people have no money to spend, the Marathi publication said.
“On the other hand, the government is also forced to draw funds from the RBI’s reserves. There is silence in markets on Diwali, but foreign companies, through online shopping platforms, have been filling up their coffers with the country’s money,” it rued.
Farmers were the worst hit as their crops, which were ready to be harvested, were damaged due to the untimely rains recently, the editorial pointed out.
As the BJP’s tally went down in the state polls held last week compared to its 2014 performance, Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray raised a pitch for “equal sharing” of power.
Last week, he demanded a written assurance from the BJP for implementing “equal formula for sharing of power”, before holding talks on staking the claim to form the next alliance government in the state.
In the recent polls to 288-member Assembly, the BJP won 105 seats, a loss of 17 seats compared to its 2014 tally. The Sena’s tally also came down to 56 seats from 63 in 2014.
