Mumbai: Approximately four hours after Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray said that he was not hungry for power and would shift out of his chief ministerial residence in Mumbai (Varsha) if his “own people” wanted him to quit, the Thackeray family shifted to their family residence, Matoshree, around 10 p.m. Wednesday.
At least 30 Shiv Sena MLAs, led by the state’s urban development minister Eknath Shinde, are camping in Guwahati — capital of BJP-ruled Assam — in a bid to topple the Maha Vikas Aghadi government in Maharashtra, formed as a coalition of the Shiv Sena, the Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP).
Eknath Shinde, leader of the rebel MLAs, has challenged Thackeray’s leadership of the Sena, suggesting that the party under his leadership has compromised on Bal Thackeray’s ideology of Hindutva by allying with the Congress and the NCP.
“I am ready to resign right now if you want me to and if you don’t believe me then after this FB live is done, I am shifting from Varsha to Matoshree from today,” an emotional Uddhav Thackeray said in a Facebook live Wednesday.
The CM’s emotional speech was seen as an attempt to galvanise the Shiv Sainiks in an effort to rally forces against the rebels and project himself as a victim of the BJP’s power politics, where a section of Sena MLAs led by Shinde were collaborating to bring the government down.
Thackeray did the Facebook Live around 6 pm on Wednesday and at around 10 pm, he left Varsha, the CM’s official residence, with his family.
While Thackeray and his wife, Rashmi Thackeray, travelled in one Mercedes, the couple’s sons, Aaditya and Tejas Thackeray, travelled in another.
Many Shivsainiks had gathered at the CM’s residence, in a show of support for the Thackerays. The CM stepped out of his car, waved at the supporters, before his entourage headed towards Matoshree, the Thackerays’ family residence in Mumbai ‘s Bandra area.
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Varsha and Matoshree — two seats of power
Varsha is the official residence of the Maharashtra Chief Minister. The bungalow is located in the Malabar hill area of Mumbai, along with other ministers’ bungalows.
The tradition is for the state’s chief minister to shift to this bungalow after taking oath.
Matoshree, literally meaning mother, is the family residence of the Thackerays. Matoshree has been the seat of power since early the 1970s, when the marshy land in Bandra-east was just being opened for development.
It was from here that Shiv Sena supremo, Bal Thackeray, ran the party. Despite the senior Thackeray not being an active part of the state government ever, the Bandra address has been a seat of power since his time, owing to the respect and following commanded by Bal Thackeray.
Visiting dignitaries to Mumbai, would pay a visit not just to the CM, but also at Matoshree, back then.
After taking oath as CM in November 2019, Uddhav Thackeray had stayed on at Matoshree for a few months, before moving to the CM’s official residence, Varsha.
(Edited by Poulomi Banerjee)
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