Uddhav Thackeray removes Maharashtra CM as Shiv Sena leader

|HT|

Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray on Friday removed Eknath Shinde as the leader of Shiv Sena, day after the latter succeeded him as the Maharashtra chief minister.

The move by Uddhav Thackeray is a bid to counter Shinde who has been staking claim to the legacy of Shiv Sena founder Bal Thackeray. Earlier in the day, Thackeray refused to recognise Shinde as a Sena chief minister and attacked the Bharatiya Janata Party. “Those, who have formed the new government, have made a so called Shiv Sainik as CM. I was saying the same thing 2.5 years ago. The same formula was decided between me and Amit Shah that Shiv Sena and BJP will share the CM position for half term each. Whatever is happening today would have happened with respect,” Thackeray had said this during his address at the Sena Bhawan.

Shinde, who led the rebellion against Thackeray ultimately leading to the fall of Maha Vikas Aghadi government, took oath as the Maharashtra CM on Thursday. He had named the rebel group as ‘Shiv Sena Balasaheb’, triggering a legacy war with the Thackeray family. He even changed his Twitter display picture, the one featuring him and the late Sena founder.

“It was the decision taken by Devendra Fadnavis to make Balasaheb 's Shiv Sainik the CM despite the BJP having more MLAs. Fadnavis could have become CM going by the numbers but he showed a big heart and I thank him," Shinde had said in the presser when his name was announced for the top post. Fadnavis took oath as his deputy in the new government.

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