NEW DELHI: Accusing the BJP of “engineering” political defections across the country, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray on Wednesday warned the saffron party that it would eventually face the “consequences” of the “precedents” it was setting.The MNS chief’s remarks came at a time when Shiv Sena (UBT), led by his cousin Uddhav Thackeray, has seen several leaders defect to Maharashtra deputy chief minister Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena, a BJP ally.In West Bengal as well, the BJP has been accused of orchestrating a split within the Trinamool Congress (TMC), which it defeated in the April assembly elections to form its first government in the state.“The question is not about those buying them (defectors), but about those who are willing to sell themselves. If people are ready to sell themselves, there will always be buyers. No one has an eternal claim to power. The question is what precedent you are setting for the future. If political parties do not realise this, I worry about the future of the coming generations,” Raj Thackeray said during a media interaction in Pune.“There are no limits left anymore. What will you (the BJP) do when you are no longer in power? The same methods will be used against you,” he added.Raj Thackeray further claimed that throughout history, attempts by “rulers to eliminate political opponents” had eventually led to opposition emerging from within their own ranks.“Forget about eliminating opponents outside the party. The opponents created within your own party will trouble you,” he cautioned.Last week, six Lok Sabha MPs joined the Shiv Sena from Shiv Sena (UBT). The Shiv Sena itself suffered a split in 2022, when Eknath Shinde rebelled against Uddhav Thackeray and brought down his government. The BJP was accused of orchestrating that split as well, after Uddhav Thackeray, in 2020, ended his alliance with the saffron party amid a dispute over the chief minister’s post.The Election Commission recognises Shinde’s faction as the official Shiv Sena.Meanwhile, in West Bengal, the TMC has split into factions led by Mamata Banerjee, who founded the party in 1998 after leaving the Congress, and Ritabrata Banerjee. Twenty of the Trinamool’s 28 Lok Sabha MPs have merged with the little-known Nationalist Citizens Party of India (NCPI) and announced support for the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) at the Centre.(With PTI inputs)
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