Mumbai: Shiv Sena leaders on Thursday claimed that Eknath Shinde was reluctant to become the deputy chief minister, but other party leaders convinced him to be part of the government. Former minister Uday Samant said other leaders had informed Mr. Shinde that no other Shiv Sena leader will participate in the government if Mr. Shinde was not there.
However, Shiv Sena (UBT) took a dig at the BJP saying it always backstabs its alliance partners and Mr. Shinde’s usefulness is over.
It was not clear till the last day whether Mr. Shinde will join the government or not. The suspense ended only after he actually took the oath as deputy chief minister. “All the Shiv Sena legislators had informed Mr. Shinde that none of us will accept the responsibility of becoming the DCM. He was of the opinion that one of us should become the DCM and he wanted to remain outside the government and work. But we told him that we want him in the government and if he was not there, none of us will join the cabinet,” Mr Samant said.
Another Shiv Sena leader and former cabinet minister Deepak Kesarkar also confirmed that the MLAs from Shiv Sena requested Eknath Shinde to accept the post of deputy chief minister. “All the MLAs of Shiv Sena met Eknath Shinde last evening and requested him to be a part of Maharashtra cabinet and accept the post of deputy CM. He assured us that he will positively consider our request. And he (Eknath Shinde) always listens to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union home minister Amit Shah. So we were confident that if a message comes from them, he will relent,” the former minister said.
However, there is still no clarity on whether Mr. Shinde will get the home ministry. Shiv Sena spokesperson Sanjay Shirsat said that Mr. Shinde will hold a meeting with Mr. Shah to finalise decisions regarding key ministerial portfolios.
However, the Shiv Sena (UBT) termed it as the end of “Shinde era”. Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Raut said ‘use and throw’ is BJP’s policy with its alliance partners. He also declared that Mr. Shinde will never return as the CM.
“Mr. Shinde’s usefulness for the BJP is over. Shinde era is over. It was for two years. His purpose has been served and he has been tossed aside. He will never be the chief minister of this state again. They can even break Mr. Shinde’s party. This has always been BJP’s line in politics, they finish the parties who work with them,” Mr. Raut said.
