Aurangabad: Common citizens got no benefits from the previous Maha Vikas Aghadi government, and Shiv Sainiks received no help despite the chief minister being from the party, Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde said here on Saturday. Shinde and several Sena MLAs had rebelled against then CM Uddhav Thackeray and brought down the MVA government, which also comprised the Nationalist Congress Party and Congress, on June 29.
“Even though there was a Shiv Sena CM earlier, there was no benefit. Under the MVA, common citizens, Shiv Sainiks got nothing,” he said while attending the ground breaking ceremony of a sugar factory in Vaijapur.
Taking a swipe at Thackeray, he said, “We didn’t do this (rebellion) in hiding. We went according to the teachings of Balasaheb (Sena founder Bal Thackeray) to fight injustice. We have seen people from the opposition coming to the government, we went from the ruling side to the opposition.”
He went for an alliance with a natural partner like the BJP with whom the Sena contested 2019 Assembly polls jointly, Shinde added.
He also said some saints were unfortunately oppressed during the MVA, though the CM did not give details of any specific incident.
There will be earthquake if I started speaking: Eknath Shinde warns Uddhav Thackeray
In a veiled warning to Uddhav Thackeray, Eknath Shinde on Saturday also said that there will be an “earthquake” if he started speaking. Questioning Thackeray’s decision to join hands with the NCP and Congress, Shinde also said he knew what happened to late Sena leader Anand Dighe.
“I was witness to what happened with `Dharmaveer’,” said Shinde, referring to Dighe, a fiery Shiv Sena leader and his mentor who died following a road accident in 2002.
Speaking at a rally at Malegaon, Shinde said he rebelled as he wanted to “protect Balasaheb Thackeray’s legacy.”
“There will be an earthquake if I start giving interviews…..Unlike some people, I never travelled abroad every year for holidays. Shiv Sena and its growth were the only things on my mind,” he said.
The late Shiv Sena founder’s daughter-in-law Smita Thackeray and his eldest grandson Nihar Thackeray have supported him, Shinde noted.
Without naming Uddhav, he said rebel legislators were being being called traitors.
Thackeray, who resigned as chief minister in June after Shinde rebelled against him alongwith majority of Shiv Sena MLAs, have often dubbed the rebels as “traitors.”
“What do you call those who compromise with Balasaheb’s ideology just to become chief minister?” Shinde asked.
“You fight elections in alliance with BJP and then form government with Congress and NCP to become chief minister. Isn’t this a betrayal,” Shinde further asked.
The Sena faction led by him and BJP would together win 200 out of 288 seats in the next Assembly elections, he claimed.