Amid the split in the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and Ajit Pawar joining the Maharashtra government as the deputy Chief Minister, Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, spoke exclusively to News18 Lokmat, saying his Shiv Sena is not upset about the new development.
While refuting that they caused the NCP split, he said leaders from Uddhav Thackeray’s Sena are joining him because they trust his work and government.
DISGRUNTLED SENA?
When asked if there was disgruntlement in his Shiv Sena because of the NCP’s entry, Shinde dismissed it as “rumours". “All these are rumors. Who will go? And where? To those who are sitting at home or to a broken boat? Not one paper was signed in two-and-a-half years. MLAs are witness to the change in the past one year. So much work has been done in their constituencies in one year. Who will go and voluntarily fall into a pit," Shinde asked.
ON BREAKING UP THE NCP
“Ajit dada had clarified after the split that Sharad Pawar saheb has been taking the decisions. In 2017, in 2019, he took a call on alliances. Ajit dada and Chhagan Bhujbal have clearly stated this. I don’t think we need to say anything on that now," he said.
ON UDDHAV THACKERAY
When asked about Uddhav Thackeray touring the state, Shinde said, “He should have done it earlier. It is too late now. What is the point of walking around now? You have lost what you had. Balasaheb Thackeray used to stand by his colleagues whenever they faced any difficulty. When there is ego, you start thinking of yourself as the owner and the other person as a slave. You need a large heart to run a party, you have to support and boost the morale of the workers. When they rise, they take the party along. A party which has insecurity cannot make it big," said Shinde.
‘SHOOT MYSELF STATEMENT’
Shinde said that his alleged statement that “I will shoot myself if nothing comes out of this Sena rebellion" was distorted. “It was my responsibility to ensure that the political future of those who came with me should not be jeopardized. No one should be harmed. That is the way I work. When I won difficult elections, I gave credit to my colleagues, but when I lost, I took responsibility for it," he said.
‘ON UDDHAV SENA LEADERS JOINING HIS PARTY’
“Why shouldn’t people come? They trust our government. Neelam Gorhe joined us. Did we offer her money (khoke)? The truth will come out in the probe into the handling of Covid by the Mumbai civic body. 50 MLAs, 13 MLCs, scores of corporators and workers are leaving them. They need to introspect why people are leaving them. Once you leave, they call you useless, but when you are with them you are precious," Shinde said, adding, “They can conduct a probe into Thane and Kalyan civic bodies’ functioning. The scams in buying body bags, the way Covid centres were handled by inexperienced people, the faulty oxygen plants led to black fungus leading to deaths…"
ON THE NCP SPLIT
“When a capable, hardworking person is ignored or suppressed or given a secondary place, such incidents happen. If any party chief wants to make the party big, he has to keep his family and personal ambitions aside," he said.
‘ON MNS’s CAMPAIGN’
Commenting on the campaign being run by the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS), seeking signatures from those who are angry, Shinde said, “I have no idea who is angry. My relations with MNS chief Raj Thackeray are cordial. We recently met and spoke about Nashik and BDD chawl issues."
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