Shiv Sena, NCP split due to Sharad Pawar and Uddhav Thackeray: Devendra Fadnavis
Mumbai: Deputy Chief Minister and BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis has said that Sharad Pawar and Uddhav Thackeray were responsible for the split in their respective parties.
Fadnavis was asked, in an interview with an English news channel, if the BJP was responsible for making six parties in the State. The Shiv Sena broke on June 21, 2022. Eknath Shinde rebelled, challenging the leadership of Uddhav Thackeray. He was supported by 40 MLAs. The Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government collapsed as the then CM Uddhav Thackeray resigned from his position on June 29, 2022. Eknath Shinde and Devendra Fadnavis were sworn in as the CM and DyCM, respectively, on June 30, 2022.
Thus, the MVA coalition was brought down. Later, Ajit Pawar preferred to join the ruling combine after a year and two days on July 2, 2023, along with 41 MLAs. The Shiv Sena and the NCP received a big setback. Now, Fadnavis has blamed Uddhav Thackeray and Sharad Pawar for this.
Statement by Devendra Fadnavis
Fadnavis said, “Congress leaders used to blame the RSS for any wrongdoing in politics. They still blame the RSS to a certain extent. However, the Shiv Sena and the NCP broke due to power struggle in Maharashtra. Pawar and Thackeray were let down by their own ambitions to hand over the party reins into the hands of their children.”
‘Can we break Sharad Pawar’s party?’
He said, “Can we break Sharad Pawar’s party? How can we divide his party? Because he broke other parties throughout his political life. Sharad Pawar himself broke his party. Initially, he naturally handed over the reins of his party to Ajit Pawar for many years. Later, he wanted Supriya Sule to lead his party. Parties with dynastic rules end in this fashion. When Ajit Pawar felt that his political career would end, he came to us.”
Eknath Shinde also realised…
Fadnavis said, “Eknath Shinde realised that certain compromises were being made for Aditya Thackeray, who would finally be made the party leader by Uddhav Thackeray. Eknath Shinde’s importance was growing. Therefore, the Shiv Sena split.
“The Shiv Sena grew because it propagated ‘Hindutva’. They could not go back to the people and seek votes after leaving ‘Hindutva’. Shinde walked out of the party. We are not in politics to sing ‘Bhajans’. Therefore, when Shinde joined us, we formed the government.”
