Claiming that Shiv Sena leader Aaditya Thackeray was ‘defamed’ by Union Minister and senior Bharatiya Janata party (BJP) leader Narayan Rane after the death of Sushant Singh Rajput, MLA Deepak Kesarkar, the spokesperson of the Eknath Shinde-led Sena faction, on Friday revealed that after Prime Minister Narendra Modi played a hand in halting this ‘defamation’, Uddhav Thackeray was reportedly ready to resign as Maharashtra Chief Minister and was well-disposed towards a re-alliance with the BJP.
Speaking to reporters in Mumbai, Mr. Kesarkar, the legislator from Sawantwadi in the Konkan, further claimed that despite a positive dialogue between Mr. Thackeray and the PM last year, the subsequent events led to a change.
“At the time of [Bollywood actor] Sushant Singh Rajput’s death, the press conferences taken by Mr. Rane had, in large part, contributed to Aaditya Thackeray’s defamation. As the Thackeray family was hurt at the time, so were we [rebel MLAs now with Mr. Shinde]…At the time, I had asked a number of BJP leaders with whom I was in contact as to how the party could allow Mr. Rane to defame Aaditya. They, too, said most of their [BJP] MLAs were against this,” said Mr. Kesarkar, adding that Sena MLAs were upset that such a thing should befall a young person with a bright political future as Mr. Thackeray.
