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Uddhav ‘wanted patch-up with BJP, said he spoke to Modi about alliance in 2021’ — rebel Sena MP

Sena MP Rahul Shewale and 11 other MPs have pledged support to Sena rebel camp led by Eknath Shinde. He justified the move by saying Sena MPs were doing what Thackeray wanted.

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Mumbai: Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray wanted an alliance with the BJP and even discussed it with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in June 2021, Shiv Sena MP Rahul Shewale said Tuesday.

Along with 11 Sena MPs, Shewale Tuesday asked the Lok Sabha Speaker to identify them as a separate group with him as the leader. There are altogether 19 Shiv Sena MPs in the Lok Sabha. 

Shewale, a two-term MP, and the 11 other legislators have pledged support to the rebel camp led by Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde. He justified the move by saying the Sena MPs were doing exactly what Thackeray wanted. 

The MP from Mumbai’s South Central constituency also said that, after the rebellion by Shiv Sena MLAs, Thackeray had said that he would be willing to join forces with the BJP if Eknath Shinde becomes CM. 

“We had four or five meetings after that. Uddhavsaheb himself said that he had held discussions for an alliance (with the BJP),” he said at a press conference with CM Shinde in Delhi. 

“‘I have tried, now you try and do what you think is appropriate.’ We are doing exactly that.” 

Shiv Sena Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Raut said people should not give too much attention to the claims. “My statement on the party’s behalf is that the Shiv Sena is not responsible for the alliance breaking. The BJP broke it by going back on its word,” he said. 

The Shiv Sena has always maintained that it was forced to walk out of its alliance with the BJP following the 2019 assembly election as the latter refused to honour its promise of sharing the CM’s post with the Sena for half the term. 

Last month, a group of MLAs rebelled against the Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government under Shinde’s leadership, causing the government to fall. 

Shinde then formed a government with the BJP, with him in the lead and 39 of the Sena’s 55 legislators with him. The MVA government comprised the Shiv Sena, the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and the Congress. 

On Tuesday, 12 Shiv Sena MPs pledged their affiliation to the Shinde camp. In a letter to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, they asked to be recognised as a group under Shewale’s leadership, with Bhavana Gawali as their chief whip. 


Also read: 12 of 19 Shiv Sena MPs join Shinde faction, tell LS speaker to identify them as ‘separate group’


Held alliance talks with PM Modi’

Shewale said Thackeray had shared with the Shiv Sena MPs details of how he had spoken to PM Modi about an alliance with the BJP in June 2021 when the two leaders met in Delhi. 

Thackeray had met PM Modi along with the NCP’s Ajit Pawar, then the deputy CM, and the Congress’ Ashok Chavan, who was also part of the MVA cabinet, with a charter of demands. Thackeray also had a one-on-one meeting with Modi during the visit. 

“Uddhavsaheb said he spoke about a Shiv Sena-BJP alliance when he met PM Modi in Delhi in June. But, right after that, in July, the monsoon session of the assembly started and 12 BJP MLAs were suspended,” Shewale said. 

“The BJP leadership then took a step back saying on the one hand you (the Shiv Sena) are talking about an alliance and on the other hand our MLAs are getting suspended,” he added. 

Later, he said, the BJP leadership did not like the way the Shiv Sena was responding to talks and the discussions stopped. 

MPs were trying to build Sena-BJP alliance’

Shewale said Thackeray told the MPs that he had made every attempt possible to have an alliance with the BJP, and that the MPs should make efforts at their end now. 

He said the MPs told Thackeray that supporting the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in the presidential and vice-presidential polls would be a good first step towards potential alliance talks. Accordingly, Shewale said, he and a group of five MPs held talks with CM Shinde and BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis, deputy CM in the Shinde-led Maharashtra government. 

“But, while all this was happening, Sanjay Raut declared support to the opposition’s vice-president candidate Margaret Alva,” Shewale said. “All of us MPs thought that we have been requesting Uddhavsaheb to form an alliance with the BJP, but, on the other hand, Sanjay Raut was meeting MVA leaders and supporting the opposition’s vice-president candidate. So, we started having doubts,” he added. 

Shewale also said that “all MPs had informed Thackeray that they wanted to contest the 2024 election with the BJP”. 

They also shared with the party chief, then the Maharashtra CM, a list of problems in their constituencies that they were facing while being part of the MVA. 

Raut dismissed Shewale’s claims by saying the decision to support Alva as the vice-presidential candidate was the party’s decision. “The party’s decision needs to be followed,” he said. 

(Edited by Sunanda Ranjan)


Also read: Uddhav Thackeray faction files fresh plea in SC against move to disqualify its MLAs


 

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