Present Maharashtra Chief Minister and Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shinde would have “shot himself” had his revolt failed last year, revealed Shinde camp Minister and spokesperson Deepak Kesarkar on Wednesday.
Mr. Kesarkar, a key member of the Shinde-led Shiv Sena faction, said Mr. Shinde had revolted to save “Maharashtra’s pride” in the same manner in which present Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) president Sharad Pawar had revolted back in 1978, remarking that the rival Sena faction led by former Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray had “no right” to call Mr. Shinde and his MLAs as “traitors.”
Mr. Kesarkar’s sensational claim comes at a time when the sabre-rattling between the rival Shiv Sena camps reached a crescendo following their respective party ‘Foundation Day‘ celebrations this week on June 19.
“Maharashtra’s public ought to know that Mr. Shinde is not just a true Shiv Sainik but a splendid human being… I had never spoken about this before the media, but during his revolt last year, Mr. Shinde had expressed doubts that if his rising did not succeed, he would send back all the Shiv Sena MLAs who joined him,” said Mr. Kesarkar, who is the Education Minister.
“Mr. Shinde said he would not only send these MLAs back, but that he would make a phone call saying ‘I have made a mistake’ and would have shot himself… If the people of Maharashtra do not stand behind such a person, then behind whom will they stand?” said Mr. Kesarkar, remarking that Mr. Shinde was a person who deserved the affection of all people and that Maharashtra’s public ought to give him “a chance to show his work as Chief Minister.”
‘Shinde was insulted’
The Shinde camp spokesperson, usually restrained in his criticism of Uddhav Thackeray, lashed out at his former chief by alleging that Mr. Thackeray had allegedly insulted Mr. Shinde on the party’s ‘Foundation Day’ in 2022.
“You [Mr. Thackeray] insult your highest-ranking general [Mr. Shinde] on the occasion of the party’s Foundation Day…you behave in a high-handed manner, break all promises you made and refuse to see legislators for months together. And then, when Mr. Shinde revolts to save Maharashtra’s pride, you call him a traitor,” Mr. Kesarkar said.
He further said that while Mr. Thackeray acquired everything by virtue of his family name, Mr. Shinde gained success by his personal behaviour and dint of hard work.
Drawing an analogy between the political situations in 1978 when Mr. Pawar’s intra-party revolt had toppled then Congressman and Chief Minister Vasantdada Patil’s government, Mr. Kesarkar asked how Mr. Shinde’s revolt last year could be called a betrayal by the Thackeray camp.
Mr. Pawar had staged his first coup in 1978 by toppling the Vasantdada Patil government and forming his Progressive Democratic Front (PDF) coalition. The NCP chief went on to become the youngest Chief Minister of Maharashtra at the age of 38 at the time.
Mr. Shinde’s intra-party revolt — the largest crisis the Bal Thackeray-founded Shiv Sena has faced since its inception in 1966 — split the party wide apart and brought down Mr. Uddhav Thackeray’s tripartite Maha Vikas Aghadi government in June last year.
Mr. Shinde then formed a new government with the BJP’s support and took oath as Chief Minister in June last year.
