Even as the real Shiv sena question remains unresolved in the Supreme Court, the rift between the Shinde group and Uddhav's faction has turned into an icy silence, broken every now and then by a sharp statement.
Shiv Sena leader and former Maharashtra Minister under the maha Vikas Aghadi government Aaditya Thackeray on Saturday broke his silence and rubbished the allegations that the Thackerays were inaccessible.
"I have been always around. I had ministries that no one else asked for. These are ministries you give to those who you want to make ministers but not very prominent ones," he said, speaking at CNN-News18's Town Hall event.
Daring the rebel MLAs who have joined the faction led by Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde to face elections, Aaditya pointedly asked, "If you wanted to hop over, why haven't you resigned as it happens in a regular democracy and contested elections and then gone over two the other side?"
"Why did you backstab us when we gave you our love, trust everything?," he said in a question to Shine and group, who have always claimed allegiance to Bal Thackeray.
The rebellion by Shinde and 39 of the 55 MLAs of Shiv Sena led to the collapse of the tripartite MVA government led by Uddhav Thackeray in June this year.
Explaining the Shinde faction's 'rebellion' Aaditya said that there were several factors that caused this. "First, they shifted the goalpost left, right and centre. Then they blamed our allies for ruining their political fortunes. Then they spoke about their brand of Hindutva…Tomorrow they may blame me for wearing a blue shirt every single day,” Aaditya said.
"If someone has ambitions or pressures on them that can't be spoken of in public, they will hop over" he said.
"No chief minister has ever parted with the UD ministry, what more do you give to these people?"
Challenging the BJP-Shinde government, Aaditya said, "Let’s face BMC election now, no problem. Resign and face election. We will accept the public mandate… Mumbaikars know what we have done for the city."
The BJP has launched an aggressive campaign for the upcoming Brihanmumbai Municipal Council (BMC) elections against the Shiv Sena, which has been ruling the civic body for over two decades. Listing the works done by the then Uddhav Thackeray government, Aaditya said: “The Hindmata region and Gandhi market area in Mumbai did not flood this year (in monsoon) due to the rainwater harvesting and percolation pits created by us. This is a proud moment for the BMC as well”. He said Mumbai's progress rate must not be compared with Shanghai or Singapore.
Speaking about the main issues in Mumbai, he said, “Cities are growth centres and it is up to us to promote the ease of living and define what urbanism is. I think our main focus areas would be housing, quality education, healthcare, roads and public transport”.
Aaditya also spoke about how Shiv Sena tackled civic issues when in power. “I used to hold meetings every week with 16 different agencies for the betterment of schools, parks, and the coastal road. In my opinion, either make a single authority for Mumbai or simply just get together and take swift action,” he added.
Speaking about Shiv Sena's opposition to the construction of the metro car shed in Mumbai's green lung Aarey Colony, Aaditya said the issue is not just about a particular land or trees. "It is a living, breathing forest. We only stopped the work at Aarey. There are some faults with that line. Rs 10,000 crore escalation in cost was assessed before December 2019 (the MVA government came to power in November 2019)," he said.
(with agency inputs)
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