Picking up the dialogue ‘itna sannata kyun hai bhai’ from the famous Bollywood movie Sholay, Shiv Sena on Monday criticised its ally in Maharashtra, BJP, for the economic slump in the country. Shiv Sena said that the slowdown is evident in the subdued Diwali celebrations this year.

In an article published in its mouthpiece Saamana, Shiv Sena criticised BJP-led central government by saying, “The ‘dhoom-dhadaka’ of fire-crackers are missing from this year’s Diwali. Sales everywhere are down by 30-40 per cent. ‘Itna Sannata Kyun Hain Bhai’? The country is facing an economic crisis. The condition of the Indian economy is worsening instead of improving,”

In the article, Shiv Sena launched massive attacks on its partner on sensitive points like demonetisation, Goods and Services Tax (GST) and the overall slowdown of the economy in the country.

“The ‘Mai-Baap Sarkar’ at the Centre says it will double farmers’ incomes, but some or the other natural calamities keep hitting them in the form of drought or floods. Due to demonetization and GST, factories are threatened, industries and businesses are shutting, employment generation is badly affected with even the banks going bankrupt,” said the Sena.

It said that the pockets of people are anyway empty, but now the government coffers are being drained out. It further said that because of the economic emergency like situation in the country, the government took out Rs 1.75 lakh Crore from the reserves of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).

“Whatever may be the condition, people somehow manage to find ways and means to celebrate Diwali, but the same cannot be said of the country’s financial sector in the grip of an economic crisis. Our markets are deserted, the festive glitter is not visible anywhere, but in the guise of online shopping, foreign companies are making money,” the Sena said.

It is to be noted that the BJP and Shiv Sena are engaged in a tug-of-war over the government formation in Maharashtra after the declaration of Assembly elections results on 24 October. In the elections, Shiv Sena has got 56 seats while BJP bagged 105 seats.

Read: Amid suspense over alliance deal, BJP, Sena leaders meet Maharashtra Governor separately

Shiv Sena is demanding a 50-50 seat sharing formula and rotational Chief Ministerial term as well, under which both BJP and Shiv Sena will keep the CM post for 2.5 years each in the 5 years term.