Saamana's Writings Are Damaging Uddhav, Says Bawankule Amid Row Over Phule Comments

Nagpur: BJP Maharashtra president Chandrashekhar Bawankule on Monday launched a scathing attack on the Shiv Sena (UBT), indirectly accusing party MP Sanjay Raut of deliberately undermining party president Uddhav Thackeray's political credibility through his divisive and contentious writings in the party mouthpiece Saamana. The criticism emerged following a controversial editorial that questioned the state government's intentions behind a film on Mahatma Jyotiba Phule and alleged appropriation of the reformer's legacy.

"Sometimes I ponder if he (Raut) is writing to diminish Thackeray politically. No prudent leader would permit such unfounded commentary to continue under their own name," Bawankule said in statement released on X and to the media here. "Just a few years ago, Thackeray was the chief minister. Today, observing his passivity and the tone of Saamana, I don't understand anything."

Bawankule also rebuked the Sena (UBT) for attempting to foment unnecessary controversy over the state government's endorsement of a Bharat Ratna for Mahatma Phule and Savitribai Phule. "The Mahayuti government under CM Devendra Fadnavis passed a resolution in the legislature recommending India's highest civilian honour to Phule couple. When Thackeray was in power, why didn't he propose it then? These queries warrant answers," he said.

Referring to the rhetoric in Saamana, Bawankule said it was suffused with "bitterness and desperation". "They persistently attempt to create divisions in society. Now, they are stooping to fabricating absurd narratives like 'Phule versus Fadnavis'. This isn't political discourse; it's an act of political irrelevance," he added.

The BJP leader also took a personal jibe at Raut without naming him, saying, "Everyone in Maharashtra knows who wakes up each morning presuming they are the state's foremost intellectual. But self-aggrandisement and inflammatory columns don't restore public trust."

He said the people of Maharashtra had already rejected the opposition's brand of politics in previous elections and cautioned Thackeray against allowing such "discredited voices" to shape his political strategy. "The more he relies on his trusted aide, the more damage it inflicts on what remains of his political capital," Bawankule said. "By the time he realises it, it may be too late."