With the BJP retaining power in four states in the country, its friend-turned-foe Shiv Sena on Friday needled the party saying that it should not suffer from indigestion due to this success as it is more difficult to digest victory than defeat. The results of the assembly polls in five states, declared on Thursday, showed that the BJP will continue to be at the helm of affairs in UP, Uttarakhand, Manipur and Goa, while the Arvind Kejriwal’s Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) trounced Congress in Punjab.

In an editorial in party mouthpiece ‘Saamana’, the Sena said that the BJP’s victory in four states will have no bearing on Maharashtra, and said its impact would be akin to what unfolds when monkeys get hold of a liquor bottle.

Maharashtra is currently being ruled by the Shiv Sena-NCP-Congress alliance called the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA).

In Uttar Pradesh, caste takes precedence over development. This time, the BJP was successful in using the issue of ‘hijab’ and caste to win the polls, the Sena said, claiming that the Mayawati-led Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) also gave a tacit help to the BJP.

It was expected that the Akhilesh Yadav-led alliance would get around 180 seats since he was getting a good response. But it could not even cross the 150-mark, it said.

The BJP fights its elections with all its resources, including money and campaign machinery, at its disposal. Irrespective of the issues that the country is facing, its leaders – right from the prime minister to home minister and the entire cabinets at the Centre and in states- fully dedicate themselves to the election work, the Uddhav Thackeray-led party added.

“What will be the impact of the polls in Maharashtra? The impact will be like monkeys getting hold of a bottle of liquor. It is more difficult to digest victory than defeat. The BJP should not suffer from indigestion from this victory,” the party said.

The Sena said that Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra led her party in the polls in Uttar Pradesh. Had Gandhi and Yadav contested the polls together, then they would have been in a better position to give a tough fight, it said.

Yadav cannot take a shot in the dark, the party said, noting that Gandhi should continue with her efforts in the state, it said.

In Goa, the party said the Congress could only win 11 seats and the BJP benefited from the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the Trinamool Congress (TMC) entering the fray, it added.