AAP and DMK must set aside their differences with Cong to fight against 'dictatorship': Shiv Sena (UBT)

The Shiv Sena UBT on Thursday urged the Aam Aadmi Party AAP and the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam DMK to set aside their differences with the Congress and join the oppositionrsquos campaign against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh KumarIn an editorial in its mouthpiece Saamana the Uddhav Thackerayled party said protests against the Special Intensive Revision SIR of electoral rolls were being witnessed across the country but the AAP and DMK had stayed away from the INDIA blocrsquos protest against the CECSena UBT targets AAPCongress differencesThe party acknowledged differences between the AAP and Congress but said the two parties should come together in what it described as a fight against dictatorshipBut the AAP and the Congress should at least come together to release the country from the shackles of dictatorship the Sena UBT saidThe editorial also referred to AAP convenor Arvind Kejriwalrsquos past confrontations with Prime Minister Narendra Modi Union Home Minister Amit Shah and the Election CommissionIt alleged that Kejriwal during his tenure as Delhi chief minister was jailed in a false case The Sena UBT further alleged that his defeat was engineered by deleting votersrsquo names from his constituencyBased on these claims the party argued that it was not in the AAPrsquos interest to remain away from the INDIA blocrsquos campaignThe Sena UBT said differences between the AAP and Congress over the Punjab Assembly polls should not prevent Kejriwal from participating in the oppositionrsquos wider campaign against Modi and ShahDMKrsquos differences with CongressThe editorial also criticised the DMK for staying away from the protest It referred to the partyrsquos electoral setback in Tamil Nadu and claimed that actor C Joseph Vijayrsquos TVK came to power with Congressrsquo supportThe Sena UBT said this had angered the DMK but argued that its decision to stay away from the opposition protest was not in the interest of the countryAt the same time the party praised the Biju Janata Dal BJD led by Naveen Patnaik for participating in the INDIA blocrsquos protest against the CECRahul Gandhi leads second day of protestThe editorial comes amid intensified opposition protests against the CEC On Wednesday Rahul Gandhi led INDIA bloc leaders in a street protest in Delhi for the second consecutive day He and several MPs were detained by police amid confrontations between protesters and security personnelOn Tuesday Akashvani Bhawan had been the centre of the protest where Rahul Gandhi Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and other leaders staged a sitin lasting more than eight hours before being forcibly removedWednesday evening again witnessed tense scenes between police and protesting opposition leaders as the campaign against the CEC continuedWith inputs from PTI