Amravati: Prahar Janshakti Party President and ex-Minister Bachchu Kadu showed off his strength with a massive procession and rally in Maharashtra’s Amravati district on Tuesday as he came to settle the row with his local political rival Yuva Swabhiman Party MLA Ravi Rana.
Amidst cries to make him a minister again, Kadu discussed the recent spat with Rana with his core team late on Monday night and then finally decided to agree to a conditional truce.
“This is the first time… That’s why we are forgiving you. But next time, if you cross our paths, we will not spare you,” Kadu warned amidst loud cheers and clapping by his supporters.
After warning, Kadu also dared his opponents, saying that his party is not of cowards, but is a party of tough fighters who will go their independent way when the occasion arises.
“Since this is your first mistake, we forgive you. But if you strike again, we shall hit back with full force. I respect Mahatma Gandhi’s ideals, but I have Bhagat Singh in my thoughts, so you should choose your words carefully,” Kadu warned his opponents.
He also issues veiled threats that while he and his group are supporting the government (of Chief Minister Eknath Shinde-Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis), if they are not wanted they could leave anytime as they believe in the ideology and not any political party.
The spat between the legislators Kadu and Rana – both hailing from Amravati – had reached a point where the former threatened to withdraw support to the Shinde regime if the latter did not retract certain allegations, prompting the Shinde-Fadnavis duo to mediate.
Rana had publicly accused Kadu of allegedly taking ’50 Khokhas’ (slang for Rs 50 crore) to switch allegiance with the rebel Shinde group in June after he engineered a split in the erstwhile Shiv Sena and toppled the Maha Vikas Aghadi government.
A red-faced Kadu challenged Rana to prove his allegations by November 1 and even served an ultimatum to Shinde-Fadnavis to clarify if the contentions were true or there could be dire consequences for the government.
While Shinde walked the tight-rope saying since both hail from the same district, there were local issues which needed to be sorted out, and he met both Kadu and Rana separately, and they also met Fadnavis later in Mumbai last weekend.
After the meeting on Monday, Rana emerged and said: “I withdraw my statement. Even Kadu should do the same,” while Kadu remained non-committal till he convinced his supporters.
Incidentally, Kadu was a Minister in the MVA government led by Uddhav Thackeray and was among the earliest to join the rebel group, while Rana and his wife, MP Navneet Kaur-Rana shot into the limelight in April 2022 for the Hanuman Chalisa row outside Thackeray’s private residence.
–IANS
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