Maharashtra: Beware of Eknath Shinde’s greed, Uddhav Thackeray tells BJP

Eknath Shinde with Devendra Fadnavis at Raj Bhavan. File pic

In the second part of his marathon interview to the party mouthpiece, Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray trained his guns on the BJP, saying it was giving all important posts to the turncoats at the cost of party loyalists and cautioned the former ally against rebel leader Eknath Shinde's greed.

He said the MVA experiment was right and the people of Maharashtra had welcomed the three-party MVA government. The former chief minister added that he had no reason to feel bad about the MLAs who have left him and that he will win the next elections to show the betrayers their place.

"The people who left me were never loyal to me though I treated them as mine. I have no reason to feel bad about it," he told Saamana executive editor and party MP Sanjay Raut on Wednesday. "The BJP has been giving up everything, right from the CM's post to the Opposition leader's position, to the outsiders," he added.

Uddhav Thackeray, Shiv Sena president

"People cried when I left Varsha [the CM's official residence]. Which other CM has received such a love? I will never let their tears get devalued," he said, insisting that the Sena will win the next elections and install its CM once again, notwithstanding the BJP's plan of triggering internal clashes in the party and harming the Marathi people's interests.

Call for Oppn unity

Thackeray appealed to all the Opposition parties in the country to unite to fight the BJP. "The central investigation agencies are being used to eliminate the Opposition. It is their weakness if the Opposition is scared of the BJP. Democracy does not mean winning every time. Be it the Shiv Sena, the Congress or the BJP, not everyone wins all the time. One wins, the other loses. New parties come up and shine for some time before fading away. That's the beauty of our democracy," he said.

If at all the Opposition parties muster the willpower to come together, they shouldn't fight among themselves for posts, he said. "I will not say democracy has been replaced by dictatorship in our country, but many feel that the steps being taken are not in the right direction," he added.

Advice to BJP

Thackeray adviced the BJP to be aware of CM Eknath Shinde's greed, adding, "One day, sins overflow. In the future, this man [Shinde] will assume that he is Narendra Modi and stake claim to the PM's office. The BJP should be cautious." Shinde, the rebel group's leader, caused the biggest ever split in the party and grabbed the top Sena leadership.