MUMBAI, Feb 19: Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut on Wednesday claimed that Uddhav Thackeray planned to make Eknath Shinde the chief minister of Maharashtra after the 2019 polls, but first the BJP and later MVA allies including Sharad Pawar played a spoilsport.
“The BJP did not fulfill the promise of sharing the CM’s post with the Shiv Sena, that was why Shinde lost the chance to head the government,” he told reporters.
Thackeray, then head of the undivided Shiv Sena, broke off the party’s alliance with the BJP over the CM post after the 2019 assembly elections, and formed the Maha Vikas Aghadi alliance with the Congress and undivided NCP to become chief minister himself.
“Shinde wanted to become CM, but top leaders of the MVA refused to work under him as he was junior to them,” Raut further stated.
“It was Sharad Pawar, then president of the Nationalist Congress Party, and Ajit Pawar who opposed the plan to make Shinde chief minister,” the Rajya Sabha member claimed.
Notably, Sharad Pawar’s praise of Shinde at a recent event did not go down well with the Thackeray-led party.
Shinde rebelled against Thackeray and split the Shiv Sena to form a government with the BJP in June 2022. He is now a deputy chief minister, along with Ajit Pawar who split the NCP a year later, in the Devendra Fadnavis-led government.
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On Tuesday, without naming Thackeray, Shinde had said the Shiv Sena split because of the attraction of the chief minister’s post. “You started treating your colleagues like they are your servants. A party can’t grow in such a manner,” he said.
According to Raut, Uddhav Thackeray wanted to make Shinde the CM in 2019. “Shinde was made the leader of the Shiv Sena legislature party which was a signal that he would be the CM candidate,” Raut said.
Shambhuraj Desai, Shiv Sena leader and Maharashtra minister, countered Raut’s claim. In 2019, Thackeray “pointed to Shinde and told party MLAs that he wanted to make a common Shiv Sena worker the CM, but then things changed overnight,” he said.
BJP leader and minister Nitesh Rane claimed it was Raut who harbored the ambition to become chief minister. “Calls were also made to MLAs but only five-six MLAs came out in his support,” Rane told reporters. (PTI)
