In his first remarks after opening rebellion against the Uddhav Thackeray-led MVA government in Maharashtra, state minister Eknath Shinde on Monday said that he was a “staunch Shiv Sainik” of Balasaheb Thackeray and will never cheat for power.
“We are Balasaheb’s staunch Shiv Sainiks … Balasaheb has taught us Hindutva .. We have never and will never cheat for power regarding Balasaheb’s thoughts and Dharmaveer Anand Dighe Saheb’s teachings,” Shinde wrote on Twitter.
The remarks came soon after Sena removed Shinde from the Legislative party group leader position after he left for Surat along with several other party MLAs.
Shinde, along with nearly two dozen MLA from Shiv Sena, went incommunicado earlier today and is camping at a resort in Gujarat’s Surat pushing the Maha Vikas Aghadi government on tenterhooks.
As Shinde is yet to spell out his stand, Maharashtra BJP chief Chandrakant Patil ruled out any link of his party to the ongoing political developments but also said the BJP would “definitely consider” a proposal if it comes from Shinde to form a government.
While both Sena and NCP ruled out any threat to the MVA government, they blamed the BJP for Shinde’s rebellion and accused it of trying to topple the government.
Meanwhile, Maharashtra BJP chief Chandrakant Patil told PTI, “The BJP has nothing to do with the Shinde episode. However, if the BJP receives any proposal from Eknath Shinde to form a government, we would definitely consider it seriously. After all, we all have worked together in the past, hence it is much better to work and run a government with them”.
