People recognise work, not name: Eknath Shinde on reunion of Thackeray cousins
Eknath Shinde
has said the coming together of estranged cousins
Uddhav Thackeray
and
Raj Thackeray
was "good for democracy", but also sent a strong message that people support those who work for their welfare.
In a video interview to PTI, Shinde remarked that Uddhav Thackeray had once dismissed his cousin Raj, who made a dramatic exit from the
Shiv Sena
in 2005 after being sidelined, and it was ironic for the two to reunite.
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"It would be incorrect to say that the Thackeray cousins had separated. Raj was expelled from the Shiv Sena. The same people who had questioned his (Raj's) influence are now thinking of joining hands again. It is a good thing. In an electoral democracy, anyone can join hands with anybody," Shinde said.
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He said anyone can go anywhere, it is their personal choice, but people support those who work for them and think about their welfare.
"People recognise the work and not the 'name'. People have decided who works for them and who sits at home. People make those people sit at home who like to sit at home," Shinde said in an apparent reference to Uddhav Thackeray.
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Shinde toppled Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray's Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government of Shiv Sena-Congress-NCP, contending that Thackeray had abandoned the principles of Hindutva espoused by Sena founder Balasaheb Thackeray.
He walked out with more than two-thirds of Sena MLAs and MPs in June 2022 and later earned the tag of 'real' Shiv Sena from the Election Commission.
The Thackeray cousins shared the stage in Mumbai last month for a "victory rally" after the Maharashtra government rolled back its controversial three-language policy that made learning Hindi mandatory in primary schools.
The coming together of the Thackeray cousins is keenly watched after the shock defeat of Shiv Sena-UBT in the Maharashtra Assembly elections last year as the party managed to win only 20 seats of the 100 it had contested as part of an alliance with the Congress and NCP-SP.
The upcoming elections to the Mumbai municipal corporations is seen as an existential battle for Uddhav Thackeray as Shinde looks to dominate politics in the financial capital of the country.
"In a democracy, anybody can form a coalition. I am not going to criticise anyone on that count. But, I only want to state that during my two-and-a-half years' tenure as chief minister, a number of decisions were taken by me and Devendra Fadnavis for the development of Mumbai and Maharashtra," Shinde said.
Asked about Uddhav Thackeray calling him 'gaddar' (traitor), Shinde hit back saying it was Thackeray who betrayed the ideals of Shiv Sena founder Balasaheb Thackeray.
"The word 'gaddar' he uses for me, actually fits him very well. In 2019, the people had given the mandate to the BJP and Shiv Sena. He (Uddhav Thackeray) betrayed that mandate and joined hands with the Congress and NCP. He is the real culprit," Shinde said.
He said Thackeray had insulted the mandate of the people in 2019 and the voters taught him a good lesson in the 2024 assembly elections.
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