 "Waiting to see how BJP handles its new 'riff-raffs': Uddhav Thackeray")
Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray on Sunday said had the BJP respected the "decision" taken before the 2019 Maharashtra polls on sharing of the chief ministerial post, the BJP workers would not have required to carry "carpets" of other parties now.
Addressing a press conference in Yavatmal during his tour of Maharashtra's Vidarbha region, Thackeray reiterated his claim that sharing of the chief ministerial post was "decided" between him and senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Amit Shah before the 2019 state Assembly elections.
Thackeray also said he is waiting to see how the BJP handles its new "riff-raffs", a week after Ajit Pawar led a split in the Nationalist Congress Party and along with eight other NCP MLAs joined the Eknath Shinde-BJP government in Maharashtra.
The former state chief minister also said he would raise the issues concerning farmers during his Vidarbha tour.
After the 2019 Maharashtra Assembly polls, Thackeray snapped ties with long-term ally Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) over the issue of sharing the chief ministerial post.
He then formed the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government, comprising the Shiv Sena (then undivided), NCP and Congress.
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A revolt led by Shinde resulted in the collapse of the MVA government in June 2022 and a split in the Shiv Sena. Shinde later became the CM with the BJP's support.
On July 2 this year, NCP's Ajit Pawar led a split in the Sharad Pawar-led party and joined the Shinde government as deputy chief minister. Eight other NCP leaders were also sworn in as ministers in the state cabinet.
Thackeray on Sunday reiterated his claim of a "decision" between him and Union minister Amit Shah before the 2019 polls. It was decided the Shiv Sena and the BJP will have its chief minister for two-and-a-half years each, he said.
"Today, the BJP and Shiv Sena chief ministers would have completed their tenure. If that had been done, the old BJP workers would have not required to pick up the carpets of other parties," he said.
To a query on the BJP attacking him by saying the one who went to the 'Mantralaya' (state secretariat) only twice was embarking on the Vidarbha tour, Thackeray said the BJP is not competent to say anything.
"BJP should stop levelling allegations against others and handle those they have taken along with them. I do not think the BJP deserves anything to be said about it. It has no right to preach us. I am just waiting to see how the BJP handles the new riff-raffs, he said.
Notably, Maharashtra Legislative Assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar on Saturday said notices have been issued to 40 MLAs of Chief Minister Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena and 14 of the Uddhav Thackeray faction including his son Aaditya Thackeray, seeking their replies on disqualification petitions against them.
These legislators have been given seven days to file their reply, he said.
Narwekar on Friday said he has received a copy of the Shiv Sena's constitution from the Election Commission of India, and that hearing on the disqualification petitions against 16 Shiv Sena MLAs, including CM Shinde, would start soon.
Commenting on the pleas seeking disqualification of the 16 Shiv Sena MLAs, Thackeray said the Supreme Court has already given a framework to the Maharashtra Assembly Speaker.
"The Speaker will have to take a decision on the disqualification issue within the given framework. If he tries to bypass it, the Supreme Court's doors are always open for us, the Shiv Sena (UBT) leader said.
The Shiv Sena (UBT) recently approached the Supreme Court seeking a direction to the Assembly Speaker to hear the disqualification petitions expeditiously.
On May 11, the top court ruled that Eknath Shinde will continue to be the chief minister of Maharashtra. It cannot reinstate the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) coalition government headed by Uddhav Thackeray as the Sena leader chose to resign without facing a floor test in the wake of Shinde's rebellion, the court said.
Thackeray started the two-day tour of Vidarbha region on Sunday to interact with the Shiv Sena (UBT) workers and boost their morale ahead of the Lok Sabha and the state Assembly polls due next year, a party leader said.
His meetings with party workers will be more about sensitising them and boosting their morale, against the backdrop of the split in the party which "weakened" it in the state Legislative Assembly, he said.
His interactions will also be about how he has been betrayed by the BJP and his party colleagues. It is a preparation for the next year's Lok Sabha and Assembly polls, the leader said.
Thackeray will hold discussions with the party cadre and supporters from Yavatmal, Washim, Amaravati, Akola and Nagpur in the Vidarbha region.