A day after Eknath Shinde took oath as new Chief Minister of Maharashtra replacing Uddhav Thackeray, after much political twists and turns, the latter for the first time addressed media at Sena Bhawan and alleged that BJP of betraying the mandate of the people.
Thackeray, hitting upon the BJP, said, “If Amit Shah had kept his word to me, Maharashtra would have a BJP Chief Minister by now.”
Launching a scathing attack on Shinde government, he said, “Those who have formed the new government and have made a so-called Shiv Sainik as the CM, I was saying the same thing 2.5 years ago. The same formula was decided between me and Amit Shah that Shiv Sena and BJP will share the CM position for half term each. Whatever is happening today would have happened with respect,”
He further said, “If the BJP was willing to give up the post of Chief Minister for an outsider, why didn’t it just do so in 2019?”
“Shinde cannot be a Shiv Sainik Chief Minister. They played overnight to turn the tables and retain power. Even though I am not CM, nobody can take Maharashtra out of my heart,” said Thackeray adding that real Shiv Sainik never ditches.
Expressing fear that the Shinde government’s decision will lead to the Aarey forests being gradually opened for development, Thackeray said, “Don’t project anger for me on Mumbaikars. Don’t change the proposal for the metro shed. Don’t toy with the environment of Mumbai.”
Uddhav Thackeray, in 2019 after taking over as CM had stayed the construction of the Colaba-Bandra-Seepz metro 3 corridor and appointed a panel to look for alternative plots. The Aghadi government had designated Aarey Colony as a reserve forest.