Shiv Sena lambasts BJP over evacuation from war-torn Ukraine, says Centre will have to bear responsibility for suffering

The Shiv Sena joined the Opposition chorus in lambasting the Bharatiya Janata Party -led Centre for allegedly ‘mishandling’ the evacuation of Indian students and citizens stranded in strife-torn Ukraine while remarking that the Centre would have to bear responsibility for the unfortunate death of an Indian student who was killed in Kharkiv on Tuesday. An editorial in the Sena’s mouthpiece Saamna accused the BJP leaders of being more focused on holding roadshows in poll-bound States rather than acting early to mitigate the sufferings of students stranded in the Ukraine. “At a time when the war clouds between Russia and Ukraine were already gathering, Prime Minister Modi, the Defence Minister and the Home Minister were busy campaigning for the BJP in poll-bound Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Uttarakhand, and Manipur instead of trying to evacuate students as quickly as possible,” said the editorial. The Sena— the BJP’s estranged former saffron ally in Maharashtra - rebuked the latter party by stating that poll campaigns ought to be fought by the party machinery only and not by the Prime Minister or the country’s Defence Minister, especially at a time when there was a possibility of a major global war erupting and Indian citizens were marooned in strife-torn zone.