Made You No. 2 in Shiv Sena, But You Broke Trust When I Was ill, in Hospital: Uddhav Thackeray
In his first interview with Shiv Sena’s mouthpiece ‘Saamana’ after stepping down as the chief minister last month, Uddhav Thackeray said “rebels are like rotten leaves of a tree and should be shed”.
“It is good for the tree as there will be new leaves (leadership),” he said.
Thackeray was interviewed by Saamana executive editor and Shiv Sena’s Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Raut.
Refraining from naming Sena rebel and Maharashtra chief minister Eknath Shinde, Thackeray said many senior Sena leaders, who worked with Sena supremo Balasaheb Thackeray, blessed them for their stand amid the rebellion led by Shinde.
ON THE REBELLION
“At a time when I was recovering from a major neck surgery that left me temporarily unable to use my limbs, I heard reports that some were praying for my health and others were praying that I should stay unwell,” said Thackeray.
“I am ‘paksha pramukh’, head of the family, but I couldn’t even move after the surgery. At that time, they were actively conspiring against me… I will always live with this painful reality…I had entrusted someone with the party, given him the status of number two. I had trusted you to take care of the party, you broke that trust, that, too, when I was in the hospital,” he said.
Responding to claims that Shinde-led faction rebelled as the party left Hindutva, he said, “I wanted to question those who are now screaming about Hindutva. In 2014, when the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) broke the alliance, did we leave Hindutva? No we didn’t…”
“I have heard that Rs 1,000 crore were spent during the drama. What has been done today [Shinde becoming the CM in alliance with the BJP after causing the fall of Thackeray-led Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi government], if they had discussed it with me, it would have been done naturally as alliance partners. We would have done it with respect,” he said.
ON THE BJP
All the BJP and these rebel MLAs want to do is to finish our party, Shiv Sena, said Thackeray.
“They have betrayed me, split the party. They should seek votes using their own parents’ images. Stop begging for votes using the images of the father of Shiv Sena, Balasaheb Thackeray. I dare them to try and separate Thackeray and Shiv Sena. Unfortunately, my parents are not alive, but they (rebels) should take the blessings of their own parents and campaign, give speeches and seek votes. Why steal my father? You have no dedication, no sense of duty, no courage? You are a traitor…”
“The way they (BJP) tried to appropriate Sardar Patel from the Congress, they are doing the same thing with my father’s legacy, which no true Shiv Sainik will ever allow,” said Thackeray.
