JOIN US'I left for same reasons as Shinde': Raj Thackeray blames Uddhav for Maharashtra crisis
Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray has said that former CM Uddhav Thackeray cannot be trusted and that he alone was responsible for the mess within Shiv Sena.
“What happened? Neither Fadnavis played any role nor Amit Shah. You have to give credit to Uddhav (Thackeray). After all, it did not happen only once,” Raj said in an interview with a Marathi channel.
This statement comes as Sena chief Uddhav battles the biggest crisis of the 56-year-old saffron regional party following a split engineered by Eknath Shinde, who is now the Chief Minister.
Raj, Uddhav's estranged cousin, has become closer to the BJP over the past few years, with their camaraderie recently being displayed during the loudspeaker row across India. Raj’s party, which has one MLA in the Maharashtra Assembly, helped BJP during the recent Rajya Sabha elections, Maharashtra Legislative Council polls, Speaker’s election and the trust vote earlier this month.
Last week, Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis met Raj to thank him for the help and also wished him a speedy recovery after surgery.
“I told Fadnavis to not take much credit as all credit of whatever happened only goes to him,” Raj said referring to Uddhav.
When asked about reports of possible electoral alliances between the two rival parties in 2014 and 2017, Raj said: “…that man can’t be trusted... talks differently, does things differently.” Raj admitted that had Balasaheb Thackeray been alive, things would have been different.
"Even some people accuse Sanjay Raut and his statements behind the collapse of the government but that is not so. He comes and gives statements with arrogance. After all, when I left, the reasons were the same,” he said, holding Uddhav responsible.
"People who were around Uddhav now were the same when I left," Raj said. “Ask Shinde about the reasons. The reasons are the same,” he said.