Uddhav Thackeray claimed that the rebels led by Eknath Shinde will not win the next election.
Mumbai:
Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Friday night challenged rebel leader Eknath Shinde and the BJP to try to oust the Shiv Sena cadre and those who voted for the party and also accused the BJP of trying to eliminate Shiv Sena. ,
In a virtual address to party councillors, he said that common workers of Shiv Sena were his “wealth”, and as long as they were with him, he did not care about criticism from others.
He said the Shiv Sena has been “betrayed by its own people”, as his government faced a crisis as most of the Shiv Sena MLAs joined Eknath Shinde, who is camping in Guwahati.
“We gave tickets to these rebels to contest the assembly elections, while many of you were keen on it. These people are dissatisfied after being elected because of your hard work, and you stand with the party at this critical time. I Can’t thank you enough,” Thackeray, who is also the Shiv Sena president, told party workers.
“I told Eknath Shinde to look into the complaints about the alliance partners. He told me that the MLAs were pressuring him that Shiv Sena should join hands with the BJP. I told him to bring these MLAs to me, on this. Discuss. BJP treated us badly. Didn’t honor promises. Many rebels have cases registered against them. So if they go with BJP, they will be cleared, if they stay with us, they will go to jail . Is this a sign of friendship?” Mr Thackeray asked.
“If a Shiv Sena worker is going to become the chief minister, you should go (with the BJP). But if you are going to become the deputy chief minister, you should have told me, I would have made you the deputy chief minister,” he said bluntly. Referring to Shinde, he said.
If Shiv Sena workers feel that he is unable to run the party, he is ready to resign from the post of party president, Mr Thackeray further said.
“Shiv Sena is an ideology. BJP wants to end it as they don’t want to share Hindu vote bank with anyone,” he said. Hindutva vote split
He said the rebel faction has no option but to join the BJP and even if it manages to form the government, it will not last long as many of them MLAs are not really happy.
Mr Thackeray claimed that the rebels would not win the next election.
Hitting out at Shinde and the BJP, he dared them to try to woo Shiv Sena voters.
“Those who have been elected, you have snatched them away. But if you have the guts, try and remove those who have elected you,” he said.
“Those who want to go are free to go freely. I will form a new Shiv Sena,” Thackeray said.
(Except for the title, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)