Mumbai: Maharashtra Minister Aditya Thackeray revealed on Sunday that Maha Vikas Aghadi’s Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray had offered the chief minister’s post to Eknath Shinde on May 20. “However, at that time, Shinde had dilly-dallied, was evasive and did not give a proper response… I had heard of some murky goings-on… Exactly a month later on June 20, Shinde and his group started the rebellion in the party,” said Thackeray Jr.
Aditya’s statement is significant as there were reports from Guwahati that the rebel group wanted Shinde to be made the chief minister. On the contrary, the Bharatiya Janata Party’s central minister Raosaheb Danve-Patil claimed that his party would form a new government in the state within the next two/three days.
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Aaditya termed as ‘good riddance’ that all the ‘muck’ has gone out of the party on its own, now leaving it clean, amid a thunderous round of applause. Aaditya Thackeray added that the group of MLAs, currently camping in a five-star hotel in Guwahati, are ‘traitors’ who will not be taken back into the Shiv Sena.
He echoed his father and Chief Minister’s remark that the party’s doors are always open to those who desire to leave or to those who want to return to the party fold.
Aaditya Thackeray also tore into the rebels, saying they have ‘monstruous ambitions’ and that even if all the party legislators turn rebels, the Shiv Sena will emerge victorious. Aaditya Thackeray made the statement at a meeting with Sena workers in Mumbai on Sunday. Earlier, he addressed the party workers on Saturday. He said that the party doors were closed to the rebel legislators. He threw down the gauntlet before the rebels asking them to contest elections and see how they bite the dust. He said, “We will ensure that you are defeated.”
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Although he did not mention the name of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), he said that he was ashamed that a party in power at the Centre and Assam had taken the legislators of another ruling party from a different state and kept them in a north-eastern state which was reeling under floods. The rebels were taken to Guwahati as ‘prisoners’ and that about 14 legislators are still in touch with us, he said. The Maharashtra legislature secretariat on Saturday issued ‘summons’ to 16 of the rebel Shiv Sena MLAs, including Shinde, seeking written replies by the evening of June 27 to the complaints seeking their disqualification.
