Maharashtra Assembly Elections 2024 | 2022 Shiv Sena split was endorsed by 'senior leadership' of BJP, claims Congress' Prithviraj Chavan

Pune: Veteran Congress leader Prithviraj Chavan on Wednesday claimed the 2022 split in the Shiv Sena, which triggered the fall of Maharashtra's Maha Vikas Aghadi government, had endorsement from the BJP's "senior leadership".

Speaking to reporters in Satara, the former chief minister noted the November 20 assembly polls are taking place in the backdrop of what happened in June 2022, when a section of Shiv Sena MLAs rebelled against the leadership of party president and then-CM Uddhav Thackeray.

After the split in the Shiv Sena, Eknath Shinde, who led the rebellion, took over as chief minister.

"These state elections are taking place in a particular political backdrop. The BJP's senior leadership had toppled the MVA government by engineering a split in the Shiv Sena. This entire move had a 'rajmanyata' (endorsement from top leadership ).

"It was not done at Mumbai level by two or three people. There was meticulous planning as the BJP's entire machinery was after it. It was like a military operation where MLAs were given security, chartered planes," claimed Chavan.

He said Prime Minister Narendra Modi can not dare to raise his anti-graft slogan, 'na khaunga, na khane dunga' (neither will I indulge in corruption, nor allow anyone else to indulge in it) while in Maharashtra.

Assembly Elections 2024 | The Maharashtra Assembly polls will take place against the backdrop of a fractured political landscape in the western state where the Shiv Sena and NCP will be going up against the Uddhav Thackeray and Sharad Pawar factions, even as the BJP and Congress try to make their mark. Meanwhile, in Jharkhand, the JMM faces a new challenge after Hemant Soren's recent arrest and Champai, a longstanding party member, joining the BJP. The Haryana election resulted in a shock loss for Congress, which was looking to galvanize on the Lok Sabha poll performance, while J&K also saw the grand old party eventually stepping away from the cabinet, with Omar Abdullah's JKNC forming government. It remains to be seen if the upcoming polls help BJP cement its position further or provide a fillip to I.N.D.I.A. Check live updates and track the latest coverage, live news, in-depth opinions, and analyses only on Deccan Herald.

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