Amid the ongoing political turmoil in Maharashtra, Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Friday reached out to the functionaries of Shiv Sena and sought to allay fears surrounding the survival of his party and the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government in the state. Thackeray claimed he did everything for rebel leader Eknath Shinde and his son Shrikant Shinde, who is a Shiv Sena MP from Lok Sabha. He further said Shinde was given the key department of urban development which is usually headed by the chief minister of the day.
In his virtual address to the party’s district unit chiefs and ‘Sampark Pramukhs’ assembled at the Shiv Sena Bhavan at Dadar in central Mumbai, Thackeray said Shinde told him sometime back that Sena MLAs feel the party should go back with former ally BJP. “What kind of Shiv Sainiks are you? Don’t you feel agitated by the BJP’s use and throw policy and when baseless charges are made against Matoshree (the private residence of the Thackerays in suburban Bandra),” he said.
“The department of urban development, which is currently with Shinde, had been always with the chief minister. Your son (Shrikant Shinde) can be an MP, but should not Aaditya also grow politically,” he asked. Shrikant is the Lok Sabha MP from Kalyan, while the CM’s son, Aaditya, is a state cabinet minister holding the environment and tourism portfolios.
The Sena has been witnessing the rebellion within the party after Shiv Sena leader Shinde broke away and formed a rebel group with the support of several MLAs. Shinde is currently camping with at least 38 rebel legislators of the Shiv Sena and 10 independents in Assam’s capital city Guwahati. He has claimed that the faction led by him is the “real Shiv Sena”.
Thackeray said he may have vacated the CM’s official residence ‘Varsha’, but his “determination is intact”.
Thackeray told functionaries during the meeting that he is “not greedy for power”. “People who used to say, we will die but never leave Shiv Sena, ran away today. Rebel MLAs want to break Shiv Sena. If they have courage, they should go among people without taking Balasaheb and Shiv Sena’s names,” he was quoted as saying.
Thackeray said that in the last two-and-a-half years, he battled the Covid-19 pandemic as well as his own ill-health, but opponents took advantage of this situation. “I had pain in my neck and head, I was not able to work properly, I could not open my eyes but I did not care about it. Shivaji Maharaj was defeated but people were always with him,” sources told news agency ANI quoting Thackeray in the meeting.
Sending out a message to rebel MLAs, Thackeray said he has “not left the fight yet” and “Thackeray and Shiv Sena are the same, you can’t run Shiv Sena without Thackeray.”
He further said that anybody in the party is free to leave. “You make take the fruits and flowers of the tree. But till the roots (rank and file) are strong, I need not worry. The roots can never be uprooted. Every season, new leaves and fruits blossom. Leaves blighted by disease need to be removed and thrown. Consider the present situation in this context,” he said.
Hitting out at Shinde, Thackeray said, “He was made a minister twice after Balasaheb Thackeray’s death (in 2012). Twice we were in power (after 2012). He was given the departments which are normally kept by the chief minister himself. You should keep Thackeray name out of your politics and see if you can survive. One can never detach the Thackerays from the Shiv Sena.”
Thackeray offered to quit as the Sena president if Shiv Sainiks feel he is incapable of running the organisation. “I am not blackmailing you. If you feel I am incompetent to run the party, I am ready to quit (as Sena president). Chief Minister’s post is inconsequential for me,” he said as the functionaries shouted slogans in his support.
The CM said for Sena founder Bal Thackeray, the party was more dear to him than him (Uddhav Thackeray).”If I am incapable of running the party, even Balasaheb wouldn’t have forgiven me,” he said.
(with inputs from PTI)
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