New Delhi: In a veiled attack on the rebel Shiv Sena MLAs led by Eknath Shinde, party leader and former Maharashtra minister Aaditya Thackeray on Sunday (July 10) said that despite being “betrayed” by those on whom The party trusted, Shiv Sena workers were still there at the grassroots level. with organization. “Those who are happy to leave should have the courage to face fresh elections. The doors of ‘Matoshree’ (Thackeray’s private residence) are open to all those who want to come back,” Thackeray told media persons.
Speaking as part of his ‘nishtha (loyalty) journey’ in Dahisar, a northern suburb of Mumbai, Aaditya Thackeray said those who wanted to leave Shiv Sena left, but the grassroot Shiv Sainik Uddhav Thackeray-led party continue to support. “In each constituency, we have two to three formidable Shiv Sainiks. Men and women who are ready to take on political rivals in the elections,” he said.
Eknath Shinde, who led a rebellion against his party chief Uddhav Thackeray, hastened the fall of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government. Later on 30 June, he was sworn in as the new Chief Minister of Maharashtra and BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis as his deputy.
Meanwhile, the Maharashtra legislature secretary has issued show cause notices to 53 of the total 55 Shiv Sena MLAs – 39 from the Eknath Shinde-led faction and 14 from the Uddhav Thackeray-led group. Both the factions claimed to be the real Shiv Sena and accused each other of defying the party’s whip during the assembly speaker’s election and trust vote on July 3 and 4 respectively, and demanded disqualification of the MLAs. .
However, the Shinde faction has not included the name of Uddhav Thackeray’s son Aaditya Thackeray in the list of MLAs against whom they have sought disqualification.
(with agency input)