In his first vocal reaction after the swearing-in of Eknath Shinde, Shiv Sena chief and former Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray said that had the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) agreed to a similar arrangement in 2019, there would have been no Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA).
“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 the Shiv Sena-BJP alliance). Had they done this earlier, there would’ve been no Maha Vikas Aghadi,” Thackeray said, news agency ANI quoted.
Expressing disappointment over the Eknath Shinde government’s move to shift the metro shed to the Aarey colony, Thackeray said – “Don’t project anger for me on Mumbaikars. Don’t change the proposal for the metro shed. Don’t toy with the environment of Mumbai.”
He further added that the manner in which the new Maharashtra government has been formed and a ‘so-called Shiv Sena worker has been made CM’, could’ve been done respectfully. “The Shiv Sena was officially with you (at that time). This CM (Eknath Shinde) is not a Shiv Sena CM,” he said.
Addressing a press conference in Panaji, Deepak Kesarkar, one of the rebel MLAs of Shiv Sena said that in Eknath Shinde, there is a CM who actually works and can go to any corner of the state. “There’s a Deputy CM who didn’t wonder how would he become the Deputy, being an ex-CM. Both of them have such knowledge and determination that if they come together, they can change Maharashtra,” he added.
