Dismissing the accusations that the Shiv Sena MLAs were kidnapped, lured with money, and threatened of being investigated, rebel camp leader Eknath Shinde said all of them came with him on their own.
“We are all Shiv Sainiks…we follow the ideals of Balasaheb Thackeray…all of them are here on their own wish,” Shinde told reporters from hotel Radisson Blu in Guwahati. Shinde’s comments come a day after Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray divested nine ministers—all of them in rebel faction—of their portfolios.
Shiv Sena leaders in Mumbai, including Thackeray’s son Aaditya and chief spokesperson Sanjay Raut, had been saying that not all MLAs went to Surat and Guwahati on their own accord.
Udaysingh Rajput, Shiv Sena MLA from Kannad, alleged that he was offered Rs 50 crore to join the rebel camp.
Similarly, Osmanabad MLA Kailas Patil claimed he escaped from the Maharashtra-Gujarat border check post when Shinde’s convoy headed for Gujarat, Balapur MLA Nitin Deshmukh claimed that he escaped from Guwahati.
“Fifty MLAs with me in Guwahati have come on their own and for their mission of Hindutva,” Shinde said. “No one is suppressed…everyone here is happy…they are here for the ideals of Hindutva, ideals of Balasaheb.”
Published 28 June 2022, 14:05 IST