Maharashtra chief minister Eknath Shinde on Friday said that among the 50 MLAs who supported him against Uddhav Thackeray, even if one MLA loses the next state assembly elections, he will leave politics permanently.
He was felicitated by his group of MLAs in Mumbai on Friday. He said all these 50 MLAs took a big risk by supporting him in his decision.
“It is my responsibility now to take care of these MLAs. I will give them everything and time to resolve the issues of their constituencies. People say, all 50 MLAs who went against Uddhav Thackeray will lose the elections now as per the past history of Sena. However, I want to tell these people, even if one MLA loses the elections, I will embrace political Sanyas permanently,” Shinde said.
Shinde said they stayed in Surat and Guwahati with these MLAs. “Initially, only a few MLAs were with us, later we had 50. People who were against us were spreading false news against us. They even asked to throw stones at my house, but no one supported them in their dirty game. People are with us and they welcomed our decision of forming a government with BJP,” he said.
“I did not get sleep all these days in Surat and Guwahati. I used to go to bed at 1.00 am and get up at 3.00 am only. It was a tense moment in my life. I was not worried about my future but was concerned about the future of these 50 MLAs who left Uddhav Thackeray to join me. They showed trust in my leadership. Now all 50 MLAs should feel as the chief minister of Maharashtra themselves,” he assured.
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He mentioned that during Maha Vikas Aghadi, Sena MLAs were treated very badly. “The funds were given to Congress and NCP only. Now, I am the chief minister of Maharashtra, no one will trouble our people. I took this complaint not once but five times to our leadership before but they did not listen to us. Therefore, we had no options to take these bold decisions for the larger interest of the state and take forward Balasaheb Thackeray’s Hindutva agenda,” Shinde said. He added that Prime Minister Narendra Modi also supported him in his decision. “The PM told me that he listened to my assembly speech and liked it very much because I spoke from the heart,” Shinde said.