Aaditya Thackeray predicts collapse of Shinde govt in Maharashtra

|HT|

Former Maharashtra minister and Shiv Sena leader Aaditya Thackeray on Saturday predicted that Maharashtra is heading towards a mid-term election as the Eknath Shinde government, he said, will soon collapse. As Aaditya addressed a gathering of party workers at Paithan and Nevasa on the third day of his Shiv Samvad Yatra, he talked about the ‘betrayal’ the Shiv Sena faced. Uddhav Thackeray's only mistake in the government was he did not snoop on his MLAs and MPs. "We will continue to commit this mistake, because if we can't trust Shiv Sena workers, who do we trust." Repeating that rebel Sena MLAs who were 'forced to revolt' are welcome to return to the Uddhav Thackeray faction, Aaditya Thackeray said traitors conspired to split Shiv Sena when Uddhav Thackeray was unwell.

Aaditya Thackeray's Shiv Sanvad Yatra is aimed at reaching out to the party cadre after the rebellion of the Shinde faction which toppled the Uddhav government.

Aaditya's outreach after being removed from power has drawn criticism from rebel MLAs. "Had Aaditya held such meetings earlier, the party would not have faced a revolt. Uddhavji was unwell, but you were young and 30 years old. Today, Uddhavji has to travel without mask and visit party's shakhas (branches). We revolted to restore the party's lost glory," rebel Sena Gulabrao Patil said earlier. Maharashtra BJP chief Chandrakant Patil on Saturday said the party decided with a heavy heart that rebel Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shinde should become the chief minister instead of Devendra Fadnavis.

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