'Fast-changing chameleon': Eknath Shinde slams Uddhav Thackeray for betraying Devendra Fadnavis

Maharashtra deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde

Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Friday criticised Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray, accusing him of betraying his ally Devendra Fadnavis after the 2019 Maharashtra assembly elections.

Responding to the opposition's motion in the legislative council, Shinde stated—without naming Thackeray—that Fadnavis had made “40–50 calls” following the BJP-Shiv Sena alliance’s majority win. “But there was no response (from Thackeray) to the BJP leader’s calls,” Shinde said as reported by news agency PTI.

"Maharashtra has never seen a chameleon changing colours so fast. He went with those whom he once considered lowly,” Shinde said in an apparent reference to Thackeray joining hands with the Congress after severing the alliance with the BJP. It was because of his (Shinde’s) request that Fadnavis had agreed to cede the post of Mumbai’s mayor to the Shiv Sena in 2017 after the Sena won 84 seats and the BJP 82 in the civic polls, Shinde said. ”But he (Thackeray) betrayed Fadnavis in 2019 (by walking out of the alliance),” he added.

Shinde also claimed that while he and rebel Sena MLAs supporting him were camping in Guwahati in 2022 after rebelling against Thackeray, the latter approached him for reconciliation, and at the same time told the BJP leadership in Delhi not to support the rebel group.

Notably, Shinde’s reminder of Thackeray `betraying’ Fadnavis and the BJP in 2019 came a day after the Shiv Sena (UBT) chief met the Maharashtra Chief Minister. A day earlier, Fadnavis, in a tongue-in-cheek remark in the House, had asked Thackeray to come over to the ruling side.

With Agency Inputs