MUMBAI: Two days after vacating his official residence in the wake of a massive revolt, Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray sought to take back control by addressing a meeting of the party’s functionaries, invoking Shivaji Maharaj’s spirit to urge the cadre to rebuild the party from scratch.
In his emotional address, he also said he was ready to step down as the Shiv Sena president if need be. He said he may have moved out of the official residence of the chief minister, but his determination to fight the crisis was intact.
Saying he was pained by the desertion of the MLAs led by Eknath Shinde, he pointed out that he gave him the plum portfolio of urban development and sent Shinde’s son to Parliament. “Despite this, they blame me for promoting Aditya Thackeray. Every father will do that for his son,” he reasoned.
Uddhav also chaired a meeting of district collectors and secretaries and asked them to continue with development works related to welfare of the people irrespective of the political twists and turns. He also discussed the Covid situation and a possible mask mandate in Mumbai, given that the infection count is going up.
In the evening, NCP patriarch Sharad Pawar called on Uddhav at his residence. NCP state president Jayant Patil and Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar accompanied Pawar for the meeting. As for Shinde, he sought legal advice after Deputy Speaker Narhari Zirwal approved the appointment of Ajay Chaudhari as the Sena’s legislative party leader replacing him (Shinde), and Sunil Prabhu as the chief whip. The Shinde camp had written to Zirwal seeking the appointment of Bharat Gogawale as chief whip instead of Prabhu.
Back to the roots
Of the total 96 Shakha pramukhs of the Sena, 85 attended the meet at Shiv Sena Bhavan at Dadar. Aditya Thackeray addressed them in-person while Uddhav spoke virtually.