Congress: Sena should have served spicy vada pav to Amit Shah instead of dhokla

Amit Shah and Uddhav Thackeray

Mocking the Shiv Sena over Wednesday's meeting between Uddhav Thackeray and Amit Shah, the Congress on Thursday said the Sena has "insulted" Maharashtra by serving Gujarati delicacies to the BJP chief instead of spicy vada pav, the ubiquitous Mumbai street snack.

"The Shiv Sena should have given the taste of spicy Vada Pav (a popular street snack in Mumbai and state) to Amit Shah during his meeting with Uddhav Thackeray as the BJP has cheated the country," Leader of Opposition in Maharashtra Legislative Assembly Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil said in a statement.

However, the Sena instead welcomed the visiting BJP leaders with Dhokla, Khandvi and Gathiya (food items from Gujarat), which is an "insult" to Maharashtra, he said.

Vikhe-Patil said the Sena has no moral right left now to criticise the BJP following this "insult". Shah had called on Thackeray at his Bandra residence yesterday during his visit to the Maharashtra capital under the BJP's 'contact for support' outreach campaign for the 2019 polls.

The meeting, which lasted for two hours, was viewed as politically significant one given strained relations and constant bickering between the two saffron allies.

Denouncing the BJP's campaign, under which Shah has been meeting prominent persons in the country, Vikhe-Patil said the BJP was reaching out to celebrities because it is aware that the people are "angry" with the performance of the party government in the last four years.

He was referring to Shah's meetings with Bollywood diva Madhuri Dixit and business tycoon Ratan Tata. Referring to Thackeray-Shah meeting, Vikhe-Patil alleged the Sena has "insulted" Maharashtra on the day of coronation of King Shivaji (on June 6 in 1674).

Criticising the BJP campaign in the context of demonetisation, fuel price rise and GST rollout, the Congress leader said the ruling party should rather seek the support of agitating farmers and the common people suffering due to the BJP's policies.

Referring to Mumbai Congress unit president Sanjay Nirupam's allegation that he was kept under "house arrest" during Shah's visit, Vikhe-Patil said the police should have given Thackeray such a treatment for "back-stabbing" the BJP despite being part of government.

Nirupam had questioned "deployment of police personnel" outside his suburban residence while Shah was in the city on Wednesday. The police, however, had dismissed his claims, saying, "it was not a house arrest".