Shiv Sena row: Uddhav Thackeray sacks Shinde from party posts

Mumbai: Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray on Friday removed Eknath Shinde who revolted against him and succeeded him as the new Maharashtra Chief Minister from the post of Shiv Sena leader.

Shinde has been removed for indulging in “anti-party activities”, said a Shiv Sena statement. The political crisis in Maharashtra was created by a revolt in Shiv Sena led by Shinde who stayed in Guwahati with other MLAs supporting him. Uddhav Thackeray resigned on Wednesday.

Earlier on Friday, former Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray lashed out at the BJP for giving the Chief Ministerial slot to Eknath Shinde, a rebel Shiv Sena leader, and said that had the former ally partner agreed to this earlier, there would have been no Maha Vikas Aghadi in the state.

The Shiv Sena and BJP had parted ways after the 2019 Assembly elections in the state after the former demanded 2.5 years of Chief Ministership each for both the parties during the term of five years, which the latter had not agreed to. Shiv Sena had then stitched an alliance with rival NCP and Congress to form the government.

Talking about the swearing-in ceremony of Shinde who was appointed as the Chief Minister and Devendra Fadnavis who was sworn in as his Deputy, Thackeray said, “About what happened yesterday, I had told Amit Shah earlier as well that there should be a Shiv Sena CM for 2.5 years (during Shiv Sena-BJP alliance). Had they done this earlier, there would have been no Maha Vikas Aghadi.”

Hitting out at Shinde, who led the revolt against him for over a week which culminated in the resignation of Thackeray from the office, the Shiv Sena chief said that the new CM is not from his party which the BJP has aimed at making. He said that he had told Union Home Minister Amit Shah in 2019 about the distribution of the Chief Ministerial post for 2.5 years each.

“The manner in which government has been formed and a so-called Shiv Sena worker has been made CM, I had said the same to Amit Shah. This could have been done respectfully. The Shiv Sena was officially with you (at that time). This CM (Eknath Shinde) is not a Shiv Sena CM,” Thackeray said.

The Eknath Shinde’s government in Maharashtra will face a Vote of Confidence on July 4, to prove its majority in the State Assembly.

The Special Session of the Maharashtra Assembly will be held on July 3 and 4.