Rule of 'Paltu Rams' not 'Ram Rajya': Shiv Sena (UBT) targets Bharatiya Janata Party over Nitish Kumar's volte-face

Pic: PTI File

Shiv Sena led by former Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Sunday launched a scathing attack on the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party and said the country is seeing the rule of "Paltu Rams" and not Ram Rajya.

The statement comes in the backdrop of Janata Dal (United) chief Nitish Kumar dumping the grand alliance in Bihar and returning to the National Democratic fold.

Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut alleged the Bharatiya Janata Party engineered the break-up of the Bihar alliance, and that the party is the biggest threat to democracy. "Union home minister Amit Shah had said that even if Nitish Kumar comes to the doors of the BJP with folded hands, we will not ally with them," Raut told reporters in Maharashtra's Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar (formerly Aurangabad) district.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has criticised Ajit Pawar and Praful Patel (both Nationalist Congress Party leaders) for corruption but let them join the alliance (BJP-Shiv Sena in Maharashtra) within 24 hours, he alleged, referring to the July 2023 development that saw the Nationalist Congress Party faction led by Ajit Pawar joining the state government.

"We are not living in Ram Rajya but in the reign of 'Paltu Rams'. Had there been Ram Rajya, Maratha quota activist Manoj Jarange would not have been needed to come to Mumbai (for the Maratha quota demand," the Rajya Sabha member said.

Earlier in the day, Nitish Kumar resigned as the chief minister of Bihar, saying "things were not working well" for him in the 'Mahagathbandhan' and in the opposition bloc INDIA, and staked claim to form a new government with the BJP, which he had dumped less than 18 months ago.

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Later in the day, he took oath as the chief minister of Bihar for a record ninth time. Raut claimed that 3,000 farmers committed suicide in Maharashtra in the last 18 months. He also claimed that people from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar are left with no choice but to go to Israel in search of jobs. (With inputs from newswire PTI)