Last Update: July 11, 2023, 2:10 PM IST
Maharashtra CM Eknath Shinde rubbished rumors of dissension in his party after Ajit Pawar was made deputy CM. (Twitter)
On rumors of their leaders, Eknath Shinde asks, “50 MLAs, 13 MLCs, a large number of corporators and workers are leaving them…MLAs are witness to change in the last one year. Who will go and fall into the pit voluntarily.” ” Uddhav is joining the army
Amidst the split in the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and Ajit Pawar joining the Maharashtra government as Deputy Chief Minister, Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde speaking exclusively to News18 Lokmat said that his Shiv Sena is not bothered by the new developments .
Denying that he created a rift in the NCP, he said Uddhav Thackeray’s Sena leaders are joining him because they have faith in his work and the government.
Disgruntled Army?
When Shinde was asked if there was discontent in his party Shiv Sena over the joining of the NCP, he dismissed it as a ‘rumour’. “These are all rumours. who will go? and where? To those who are sitting at home or to the broken boat? Not even a single paper was signed in two and a half years. In the last one year, the legislators are witness to the change. So much work has been done in their constituencies in one year. Shinde asked, who would go and voluntarily fall into the pit.
On breaking NCP
“Ajit Dada had made it clear after Partition that Sharad Pawar saheb is taking the decision. In 2017, in 2019 they decided on the alliance. Ajit Dada and Chhagan Bhujbal have clearly said this. I don’t think we need to say anything on this right now.
ON UDDHAV THACKERAY
When Shinde was asked about Uddhav Thackeray’s state visit, he said, “He should have done it earlier.” it’s too late now. What’s the point of roaming around now? You have lost what you had. Whenever his colleagues faced any difficulty, Balasaheb Thackeray used to stand by them. When there is ego, then you start thinking of yourself as the master and the person in front of you as a slave. It takes a big heart to run the party, support the workers and boost their morale. When he wakes up, he takes the party with him. A party which has insecurity cannot become big,” Shinde said.
‘shoot yourself’ statements
Shinde said that his purported statement that “if nothing comes out of this army mutiny, I will shoot myself” has been twisted. “It was my responsibility to ensure that the political future of those who came with me was not in jeopardy. No one should be harmed. This is how I work. When I won a tough election, I gave credit to my colleagues, but when I lost, I took responsibility for it,” he said.
‘Uddhav on Sena leaders joining his party’
“Why shouldn’t people come? They have faith in our government. Neelam Gore joins us. Did We offer him money (khokhe)? The truth will come out in the probe into the handling of Covid by the Mumbai Municipal Corporation. 50 MLAs, 13 MLCs, hundreds of councilors and workers are leaving their side. He needs to introspect why people are leaving him. Once you are gone, they call you worthless, but when you are with them you are priceless,” Shinde said. ”They can probe the functioning of Thane and Kalyan civic bodies. Scams in buying body bags, the way Covid centers were handled by inexperienced people, faulty oxygen plants leading to deaths due to black fungus…”
ncp on split
“When a capable, hardworking person is ignored or suppressed or given a back seat, incidents like this happen. If any party chief wants to make the party bigger, he has to keep his family and personal ambitions aside,” he said.
‘On the campaign of MNS’
Commenting on the campaign being run by the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) seeking signatures of angry people, Shinde said, “I don’t know who is angry. I have cordial relations with MNS chief Raj Thackeray. We met recently and talked about Nashik and BDD chawl issues.