In a sensational claim, a Maharashtra Shiv Sena minister said here on Wednesday that if the much-discussed rebellion against then Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray — which saw senior party leader Eknath Shinde walk out of nearly 40 MLAs leading to the fall of the MVA Government in June last year — had failed, Shinde would have shot himself dead.
After the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena rooted for declaration of June 20 as the “World Traitors’ Day” to commemorate the “treason indulged in by then rebel leader and current Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, his staunch supporter and state minister Deepak Kesarkar defended Shinde, saying that the latter had rebelled against Uddhav Thackeray to safeguard the self-respect of Maharashtra. “Who are you calling gaddar (traitor)? Shinde and I enjoy a close rapport, Whenever Uddhav Thackeray would come out with a promise that Shinde would be elevated ( to the CM’s post) and would then renege on his promise, I would go back to Shinde and talk to him about it.
When Shinde finally announced rebellion against Thackeray, he ( Shinde) told me that on the Shiv Sena’s foundation day last year, Shinde was insulted by the party leadership, and had gone out of the function in anger,” Kesarkar said.
“Despite having been humiliated by the party leadership, he was considering remaining in the party. Shinde was a sincere party worker and a sincere man. He had told me that the moment he realised that he would not succeed in his revolt, he would have sent back all the MLAs who had walked out with him from the Shiv Sena and then he would have called party president and Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray that he had made a mistake. He said that subsequently that he would have shot himself dead,” the ruling Sena minister said.
It may be recalled that Shinde, then a senior Shiv Sena leader, had rebelled against the then chief minister and Sena president Uddhav Thackeray, walked out of the party along with 40-odd MLAs leading to the collapse of the government Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), a grand alliance comprising Shiv Sena, NCP and Congress. Shinde later teamed up with the then Opposition BJP to form a new government in state. Shinde and Fadnavis were sworn as the Maharashtra chief minister and deputy chief minister respectively on June 30, 2022.