Sushma Andhare slams Shinde, Fadnavis over Jarange audio clip, warns of "karma returns"

Maratha activist Manoj Jarange played an audio clip at a press conference two days ago. Since then, Maharashtra politics has been in turmoil. Leaders of the Shiv Sena and the BJP are locked in a bitter exchange and are trading barbs.

Shiv Sena (UBT) deputy leader Sushma Andhare has now voiced her anger in a social media post. She said that strategies are openly drawn up to keep telling people that Sharad Pawar runs Jarange's agitation or that it is backed by Thackeray, though they have nothing to do with it, and to keep spreading this lie through different YouTube channels.

Andhare wrote that two days ago she had heard only a clip of about a minute and a half. Today she listened to the full 30-32 minute audio and was stunned. According to her, Sushil Kulkarni believes he can manipulate even Udayanraje. She asked whether this was Kulkarni's arrogance or an insult to Udayanraje, and why Udayanraje or his supporters were not saying anything about it.

Andhare said that in the clip Sushil Kulkarni and Atul Bhatkhalkar shamelessly discuss creating a fake narrative against Uddhav Thackeray. According to her, they laugh and talk casually about the kinds of conspiracies that could be used to defame a calm, gentle and straightforward man like him. She called this deeply infuriating.

Andhare also wrote that Kulkarni used to use the surname Renapurkar, but when he felt that surname would not give him the privilege that comes with Kulkarni, he changed Renapurkar to Kulkarni. According to her, Kulkarni says with full confidence that anyone who takes a stand against the displacement of people over the Vadhavan port or many other projects can be branded anti-national and said to be funded from America or China, and that different newspapers can be manipulated for this. Andhare said the newspapers should have raised their voice against this, as it is also a question of their credibility.

On the mention of her own name in the clip, Andhare said that when a woman does not give in to any attack, attacking her character is the sure-shot remedy of the patriarchal mindset here. According to her, this made one thing clear: anyone else can be manipulated, but not Andhare.

Andhare also named Shweta Shalini, who works on perception for the BJP. According to her, Shalini tells the others at the meeting that one fact should also be put out: that Shinde gave Jarange Rs 500 crore and that the Rs 500 crore was given by taking it from the BJP. Andhare said many people in the Shinde faction argue over whether Shinde brought Rs 500 crore or not. Chief Minister Fadnavis says he will investigate the clip but does not state clearly that no money was given. She asked who, after all, is playing whose game.

She asked the Maratha community whether it could see that people such as Sushil Kulkarni, Atul Bhatkhalkar, Shweta, Shalini or Atul Limaye, who are intoxicated with caste superiority, want to show that Marathas may be powerful but cannot use their own minds. According to Andhare, these people believe Marathas can be confused and turned against their own leader, and unfortunately they have succeeded in this plot to some extent.

Andhare said that after hearing the clip of about 30 minutes, it is clear that people who take contracts to defame such a big agitation come forward for money. She wrote that the women who say everything from "Jarange took money" to "women lived at Jarange's farmhouse" are being prepared from within the Maratha community itself. According to her, a man fights bravely when attacked from outside but breaks when there is revolt from within, and the clip makes it clear that the Pushyamitra Shunga mentality has still not ended.

Andhare said the masks of Shinde and Fadnavis have come off and their terrifying faces have been exposed. According to her, the audio clip is genuine and everyone can tell whose voices they are, but the ruling parties will take no time to call it false. She said people must decide for themselves whether to forget or remember this conspiracy, but Shinde and Fadnavis should remember one thing: karma returns. Andhare launched her attack in these words.