The Hindu Rashtra Sena (HRS), a “political party” that made news after the murder of a Muslim techie in Pune, has come out with a “clear” agenda as it enters the poll fray this time. A pamphlet released by Rupali Marathe, the sister of HRS chief Dhananjay Desai and Independent candidate supported by the party, says aim is “Hindu hitache rajkaran ani Hindunche sainikikaran (politics for benefit of Hindus and militarisation of Hindus)”. Rupali is contesting from Vile Parle in Mumbai.
Desai was arrested by the Pune police along with 20 more party activists for allegedly murdering Moshin Shaikh, 28, in Hadapsar on June 2, 2014, following the communal clashes that started over derogatory pictures of Maratha king Shivaji and late Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray uploaded on a Facebook page.
In her pamphlet, Rupali blames the government for action against Desai “just because he takes a clear and non-compromising stand on Hindutva issues”. She is telling the voters that she would not promise anything like new constructions and repairs of roads or providing food to the poor. “Road construction, drainage lines are works done by the municipal corporation,” the pamphlet reads.
Instead, Rupali promises that if she wins she will become a member of “Goraksha Samiti” and shut 800 illegal slaughterhouses in the state within a year. “I will place a legislation for implementation of common civil code in Maharashtra like it exists in Goa. I will put pressure on the government for proper investigation into the Azad Maidan riots. I will place a legislation for using money collected in temple only for the benefit of Hindus,” says the pamphlet.
“I will fight against the allotment of land to the so-called education tycoons. The land would be taken back and used for developing genuine educational institutes for common people… I ensure that expert medical professionals are involved in providing free and low-cost medicines to the poor,” it adds.
Talking to The Indian Express, Rupali said: “We would strongly raise the issues benefiting Hindus. There is no point in making promises and then doing nothing about it. We thus promise what we can do for the Hindus.”
HRS is a registered political party, though it never contested an election before and has remained more in news for involvement in communally sensitive issues. This time, however, it wanted to contest the state elections from the same Hadapsar constituency where Mohsin Shaikh was murdered. As Desai is in jail, the party announced the name of his wife Rasika Desai as its candidate for the seat during a press conference in Pune. Rasika filed her nominations but her candidature got rejected. HRS campaign in-charge Sagar Sonawane said her name did not appear in the voter list, which was why the necessary documents required for her candidature could not be submitted.