BJP vs Shiv Sena: A contest of protests in Mumbai

Whether it was Mumbairsquos nightlife or LED lights at Marine Drive the recent past has seen the BJP and Shiv Sena trade punches over several issues However while it may have been content playing second fiddle to Sena in the city earlier the BJP seems to have adopted a more aggressive approach recently keeping a firm gaze on the BMC elections in 2017Also read How has the film industry made a fool like Salman Khan their icon BJPCase in point Sundayrsquos protest that followed Salmanrsquos Khan tweet on 1993 Mumbai blasts convict Yakub Memon over which the BJP even approached the Governor seeking cancellation of the actorrsquos bail in the 2002 hitandrun case as midday had reported yesterday lsquoHow has the film industry made such a fool their iconrsquoBJP workers protest outside actor Salman Khanrsquos house on Sunday demanding an apology after he posted tweets in favour of 1993 blasts convict Yakub Memon PicPTI With 15 MLAs ndash one more than the Shiv Sena ndash the BJP is flexing its political muscle in Mumbai like never before Following the antiSalman protest the party now claims that they take Mumbairsquos issues more seriously than the Sena Shiv Sainiks on the other hand claim the BJP has learnt to be aggressive from themldquoWe have always been protesting more than Shiv Sena itrsquos just that the media never paid attention To prove my claim one can go and check the number of cases registered against our party workers at police stations across Mumbai and Maharashtra Since our formation we have been protesting on various issues and we have outperformed many parties in taking up the causes of the common publicrdquo said Mumbai BJPrsquos chief spokesperson Niranjan ShettyWhile the BJP basks in the publicity from Sundayrsquos protest Shiv Sena corporator Avkash Jadhav claims that Salmanrsquos tweets were not worthy of such attention In spite of his claims Shiv Sainiks in Satara had temporarily halted the screening of the actorrsquos latest movie Bajrangi BhaijaanWhatrsquos the pointldquoFirstly I do not understand what was the point of the BJP protesting against Salmanrsquos tweet because by the time they went to protest he had already retracted it and even apologised Secondly since inception our party has aggressively protested against the problems plaguing common public Itrsquos good if the BJP is learning from our example We hope that they protest more and take up various such issuesrdquo Jadhav saidA senior Sena leader said that while the BJP was in the limelight for the protest it was Sainiks who had first protested against the 1993 blasts for which convict Yakub Memon is on death rowldquoOn Sunday the protest may have acted in BJPrsquos favour but we had protested against every aspect related to the 1993 bomb blasts before But yes it cannot be denied that people did expect the same from Shiv Sena However things are changing within our party now as wellrdquo the leader saidThat the Sena is also using different tactics is evident from the way they dealt with the fracas over the openair gyms lsquoGym jam Day after Aaditya Thackeray inaugurates gyms BMC tears down one on Marine Driversquo midday July 17 After Congress MLA Nitesh Rane said hersquod raze the gym if the BMC didnrsquot the Senarsquos response was unusually tranquil The party mostly turned to legal recourse to answer Rane Sainiks had put up instigating posters against him but senior leaders asked that the posters be removed as they were giving Rane undue importanceA BJP leader also noted the change in the approach of the BJP and Sena ldquoOne would see us doing more social work and while the protests would be handled by the Sena but now itrsquos the opposite We are on streets protesting and Sena is organising blood donation campsrdquo he said referring to a blood donation drive held by Sena yesterday to mark party chief Uddhav Thackerayrsquos birth anniversary