Maharashtra Chief Minister Éknath Shinde on Wednesday said his rebellion was not an act of “treason” but “rebellion” and asked Shiv Sena president Uddhava Thackeray to kneel at the memorial of party founder Bal Thackeray and apologize for going against his ideals and joins. with the Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP).
Addressing a mega rally at the MMRDA grounds of the Bandra Kurla complex on the occasion of Dussehra, Shinde said that voters in the state had elected Shiv Sena and BJP in the 2019 assembly elections, but Thackeray had “betrayed” the people by joining hands with the Congress and the NCP to formation of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government.
We did not do ‘gaddari’ (treason) but this (mutiny) was ‘gadar’ (mutiny). We are not ‘gaddar’ (traitors) but soldiers of Balasaheb (Shiv Sena founder Bal Thackeray). You have sold the principles of Balasaheb. Who are the real traitors who betrayed Hindutva for power? Shinde said in a speech that lasted over an hour and a half. The Shiv Sena faction led by Thackeray often targeted party rebels led by Shinde as traitors. The chief minister strongly defended his revolt against Thackeray’s leadership in June, which toppled the Shiv Sena-led MVA government.
Uddhav Thackeray shares an uneasy relationship with Jaidev, Smita and Nihar Thackeray. The empty chair used by Bal Thackeray during his last rally in Thane was placed center stage in the sprawling grounds of BKC, located near Matoshree’, the Thackeray family’s private residence in suburban Bandra.
Shinde asked why the decision of the Shiv Sena MLA submitting his resignation was not accepted when the party decided to ally with the Congress and Sharad Pawar-led NCP in 2019. He was responding to Aaditya Thackeray’s call for rebel MLAs to resign and face re-election.
Hitting out at Uddhava Thackeray for calling him ‘Katappa’, a character from the superhit ‘Bahubali’ who is portrayed as a traitor in the film, the Chief Minister said he was not someone who practiced double standards. Shinde questioned Uddhava Thackeray’s work style and asked how many times he visited Mantralaya, the state secretariat in South Mumbai, when he was Chief Minister (November 2019-June 2022).
Administrative work had virtually come to a standstill during the two-and-a-half years of the Uddhav Thackeray-led MVA government, he claimed. Shinde said that while Uddhav Thackeray worked from home, when he became the Chief Minister on June 30, he resorted to working from home. Though the chief minister was from the Shiv Sena, it was the NCP that ran the show in the previous permit, Shinde said.
Balasaheb ran the government using his remote control but Thackeray gave the remote control to NCP and danced to NCP tunes,” he said. Shinde assured that the Maratha community, which has long been demanding reservation in government jobs and education, would get justice. He said there will be a ‘development model’ of Maharashtra in the next two years
