Fight over Shiv Sena’s name, symbol hurt me: Raj Thackeray
Maharashtra Navnirman Sena Chief (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray said before leaving Shiv Sena, he had warned that a few would destroy the party and that the fight over the Sena name and symbol hurt him.
“I was hurt when I saw the fight for the Shiv Sena name and symbol. I had warned while leaving Shiv Sena that a few people in the party would finish the party. I didn’t want to be one of them. Hence, I left the party,” he said.
“I never aspired to be the Shiv Sena pramukh (chief) as was rumoured. I always knew that no one other than Bal Thackeray could lift the Shiv dhanushya baan (bow and arrow). One (Uddhav) could not handle it. I don’t know whether the other (Eknath Shinde) will be able to handle it,” he said, addressing a rally on Marathi New Year ‘Gudi Padwa’ at Shivaji Park in Mumbai’s Dadar.
Sharing an anecdote about his cousin Uddhav, Raj Thackeray said: “Once I took Uddhav to the Oberoi to talk. I asked him what he wanted, if he wanted to be the party chief, to be chief minister when the party comes to power. I told him, ‘You can be… but let me know what my role in the party is. Don’t use me only for the rallies’. He said, ‘No, I don’t want anything’. We went back home, and I told Balasaheb and Maa saheb that everything between us was solved. Then Balasaheb asked Uddhav to meet him but he didn’t show up. Instead, he left the house.”
Raj Thackeray said he was asked to speak with Narayan Rane when he was about to quit the party. “Balasaheb asked me to speak to Narayan Rane when he was about to leave. I called him. But then Balasaheb called me back after some time and asked me not to call him. I could hear someone murmuring from behind. Finally, Narayan Rane left.”
“This is how strong people were forced to leave the Shiv Sena. Or else I wouldn’t, in my wildest dream, have thought of starting a new political party in front of Balasaheb Thackeray,” Raj Thackeray said.
