Sena cautions govt against any kind of 'war for poll gain' rhetoric

A day after sealing a seat-sharing pact with the BJP, the Shiv Sena on Tuesday asked the NDA government not to behave in a way that would fuel allegations that it was trying to wage a war to influence poll results.

Riots and terror attacks should not be used for "political gains", the Sena said in an editorial in the party mouthpiece 'Saamana'.

Targeting students from Kashmir over such incidents could spell more trouble for the government, it warned.

The remarks came a day after the BJP and the Shiv Sena announced a seat-sharing arrangement for the upcoming Lok Sabha and Maharashtra Assembly elections, overcoming their strained ties and earlier declarations of going solo.

Without taking names, the Uddhav Thackeray-led party said, "Sometime back there were political allegations that Prime Minister Narendra Modi could wage a small-scale war to win elections... The rulers should not behave in a way that these allegations gather strength."
Referring to the February 14 Pulwama bombing in which 40 CRPF personnel were killed, the Marathi daily said, "The country is still boiling over the terror attack, hence some may face criticism. (But) riots and terror attacks should not be used for political gains."
Further targeting the government over the Pulwama incident, it said, "Our intelligence officials can trace an e-mail purportedly referring to a threat to the prime minister's life but they fail to stop terror attack on a convoy."