Maharashtra: Aaditya Thackeray says rebel Sena MLAs should seek fresh mandate; CM Shinde reacts

Former Maharashtra minister Aaditya Thackeray on Friday dared the rebel party MLAs including Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde to seek a fresh mandate and said he too was ready to resign and contest an election afreshSpeaking at the same event earlier chief minister Shinde said Uddhav Thackeray should introspect as to why 40 of the Senas 55 MLAs quit rather than calling them namesI reiterate my demand that the 40 rebel MLAs should resign and seek fresh mandate I will also resign from my seat and seek reelection Let people decide Aaditya Thackeray said at the India Today conclave hereIf I were the deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis I would have walked out of this government and called for fresh elections he addedHis party believed in the ideals of the Constitution the rule of law and justice he saidIf twothirds of the legislative party revolts and the rebellion is legitimised there would be unrest in the country he said referring to the revolt by Shinde and others which brought down the Uddhav Thackerayled Maharashtra government in June this yearAaditya also criticised the state government for delaying civic polls including the elections to the Brihanmumbai Municipal CorporationIn the last 25 years we have turned a civic body BMC with deficit into one with a surplus of Rs 80000 crore and each penny is accounted for he saidTo a question about who should be blamed for the Shinde groups revolt Thackeray said I and my father Uddhav Thackeray take the blame for the blind trust in the people who we thought were our own We did not play dirty politicsThe Shinde faction petitioned the ECI seeking the bow and arrow symbol only with the intention of damaging the Shiv Sena he said adding that if justice prevailed his party would get the symbol backAsked about claims that Uddhav Thackeray had met Prime Minister Narendra Modi last year to discuss possible rapprochement with the BJP he said then deputy CM Ajit Pawar and minister Ashok Chavan had accompanied his father to DelhiIs it necessary to give political colour to normal meetings between a chief minister and prime minister just because a traitor says so Thackeray addedTo a question about the criticism that someone like him who speaks about climate change urban planning and the environment was not suited to lead a party known for politics of aggression and intimidation Aaditya said one can not be rigid one has to be ready to adapt and open to ideasMy grandfather Bal Thackeray raised the issue of sons of the soil and Hindutva because these issues were prevailing during that period while my father focussed on developmental issues prevailing during the time he saidEarlier chief minister Shinde said during the event that Uddhav Thackeray had nothing new to say except calling him and the MLAs of his faction traitorsAlso Read Aaditya Thackeray slams Shinde govt says industry has no faith in Khoke govtOne can bribe two or three people not 50 people he said to the allegation by the Thackeray group that rebel MLAs received money to switch their loyaltiesInstead of introspecting on what went wrong he Uddhav Thackeray has been levelling accusations against us For me ideology is important not the chief ministers post Our MLAs were angry people wanted Shiv Sena to get out of the Maha Vikas Aghadi alliance We stood for the SenaBJP alliance for which people had voted Shinde statedHis was a propeople and prodevelopment government he said adding I believe CM does not mean chief minister it means common manPeople were happy as all the coronavirusrelated restrictions have been removed and they can celebrate festivals freely Shinde saidAsked if Uddhav Thackeray had told him about any assurance given by Amit Shah about the BJP being ready to share the chief ministers post with the Sena after the 2019 elections Shinde said Thackeray did tell him about thisBut no one else was present there during the meeting between Thackeray and Shah he addedHe later asked prime minister Modi and Shah about this meeting and was told that the BJP always honours its commitments Shinde further saidNitish Kumar was made chief minister even though BJP had more MLAs in Bihar I had 50 MLAs with me and BJP 106 still I was made chief minister he addedHis rebellion was only for preserving Sena founder Bal Thackerays ideology and not for any post the chief minister saidBalasaheb spoke about abolishing Article 370 and constructing the Ram temple at Ayodhya Who is doing these things he askedShinde however evaded a direct reply to questions on whether he would be the face of the present alliance with the BJP in the 2024 Assembly electionsEven now I had no ambition to become CM Whatever we did was in the interest of the state and country People will decide he saidAsked about his equation with deputy CM Fadnavis Shinde said the two of them have good tuningHe has been chief minister earlier and his experience matters Shinde saidThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies 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