Uddhav supping with Congress that insulted Balasaheb: Eknath Shinde

New Delhi: Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Thursday hit out at bete-noire Uddhav Thackeray, accusing him of supping with the Congress that had rewarded former chief election commissioner M S Gill, who had "snatched" the voting rights of Shiv Sena founder Balasaheb Thackeray.

In a video interview with PTI, Shinde also slammed Uddhav Thackeray for calling him a "traitor" and accused him of compromising with the strong Hindutva ideals of Balasaheb Thackeray.

"It is surprising that he (Thackeray) is visiting the residence of the leader of the party that rewarded the person who snatched the voting right of Shiv Sena founder Balasaheb Thackeray," Shinde said, referring to Shiv Sena-UBT chief Uddhav Thackeray attending a dinner meeting at the residence of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi.

Shinde said it was the Congress that had rewarded ex-CEC Gill, who disenfranchised Balasaheb Thackeray, with a ministerial berth in the UPA government.

"You are meeting people who insulted Balasaheb, you are meeting those people who have insulted Savarkar...who questioned Operation Sindoor and the valour of armed forces," Shinde said.

In 2022, Shinde toppled Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray's MVA government by walking out with more than two-thirds of the Shiv Sena MLAs and joining hands with the BJP. Later, the Election Commission recognised Shinde's faction as the 'real' Shiv Sena and handed him the party name and the election symbol, forcing Thackeray to seek a new name for his outfit.

Shinde also hit back at Thackeray for calling him 'gaddar' (traitor).

The deputy chief minister said it was Thackeray who had betrayed the people's mandate in the 2019 Maharashtra Assembly elections and joined hands with the Congress and NCP.

"The word used by Uddhav Thackeray for me is actually an apt description of himself. In 2019, Maharashtra had given a mandate to the Shiv Sena-BJP to form the government. Whom did they align with? The Congress, just for self-interest to become chief minister, to grab the CM's chair. The word he uses for me -- betrayer, traitor – applies to him to the point," Shinde said.

He said the people of Maharashtra taught the real betrayers a lesson in the 2024 assembly elections.

"They did not even win a mandate to be recognised as the leader of the opposition. The people of Maharashtra have put a rubber stamp on the real betrayers of the state through the election results," Shinde said.

Shinde also lashed out at Thackeray for criticizing him for meeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah.

"When I meet Modi ji and Amit bhai, they make a lot of noise and claim that I have gone to meet my masters. We are proud to meet the people who have contributed to the development of Maharashtra. These are the people who brought Balasaheb's dreams to reality by removing Article 370 from Jammu and Kashmir and building the Ram Temple in Ayodhya," Shinde said.

On the Congress-led opposition questioning the revision of electoral rolls in Bihar, Shinde said the opposition parties have realised that they were heading towards a defeat and hence preparing a ground for it in advance.

"When they see defeat, they start preparing ground for it in advance. They have begun to realise that they are losing the Bihar elections, so they have started attacking the SIR exercise," he said.

"These attempts to create a perception do not succeed always. People are intelligent," Shinde said.