Derecognise Shiv Sena, book its leaders, demands AAP

New Delhi: The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) demanded that the Shiv Sena be derecognised in the backdrop of the latter's recent activities, including Monday's protests at BCCI office in Mumbai, saying in its nearly 50 years of existence the regional party has only contributed to "politics of hate and goondaism".

"It's been nearly 50 years of Shiv Sena's existence and other than politics of hate and goondaism it has not made one credible contribution to the nation," AAP spokesperson Preeti Sharma Menon said.

Slamming the Sena, Menon said though the party has not ruled the state on its own even once, it claimed to be the voice of Maharashtra.

"Surviving on coalitions and politics of convenience, it has not ruled Maharashtra on its own even once, and yet poses as the voice of Maharashtra. It took more than two decades of existence for Shiv Sena to win one Lok Sabha seat and its best Assembly performance was 73/288 in 1995, after nearly 30 years of existence," she pointed out.

"So what exactly is the Shiv Sena? It is just a front for goondas who earn their living by threatening harmless people like singers, writers and holding the financial capital to ransom with its threats of bandhs and riots," she said in a statement.

In the last few weeks, the Shiv Sena has threatened and cancelled Pakistani singer Ghulam Ali's concert and attacked the organiser of a launch event of a book, written by a former Pakistani minister. Today they have attacked the BCCI offices which has led to cancellation of the India- Pakistan cricket meet, Menon said.

"This is completely unacceptable. Civil society must come together and demand a ban on Shiv Sena, as they neither understand, nor participate in upholding our Constitution or our democracy. Instead they are always ready to precipitate tensions with neighbouring countries," she said.

"The AAP demands that the Election Commission should take note of Shiv Sena's illegal and dangerous activities and de-recognise them. The state government should book Sena leaders for inciting violence and destroying the law and order of the state," she demanded.

"What is worse is that the BJP and Shiv Sena are together supposed to be governing Maharashtra. Instead they have spent the last year fighting each other the BJP banned meat and the Shiv Sena protested and sold meat. The Shiv Sena threatened the book launch and BJP protected and conducted it," Menon said in a statement.

"The only thing they come together on is politics of hate. On October 17, 2015, a Muslim college student was picked up for no apparent reason, and thrashed all night by policemen in Bandra Police station, he was told to go to Pakistan," she alleged.

"This is a huge blot on the nation. How can we trust a government who cannot control its own police force? Or is this what the government is encouraging the police to do?" she asked.

Maharashtra is reeling under drought, farmers are committing suicide, rampant corruption has forced a builder and a police inspector to commit suicide. The state is fast slipping into anarchy, she said.

It has been a dismal 12 months for Maharashtra as the BJP-Sena government has not delivered on a single poll promise but has wreaked anarchy in the state, she further alleged.

"The AAP feels that the government has lost its moral right to rule Maharashtra," Menon said.