'Before Rebellion, Eknath Shinde Cried And Said He Will Be Arrested If...': Aaditya Thackeray's Big Claim

Refuting Aaditya Thackeray’s claims, MLA Santosh Bangar said there was no threat by the BJP and the reason behind the revolt was Thackeray’s alliance with NCP and Congress.

Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray

Source : PTI

New Delhi: Launching another attack on Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray said the former had come to their residence and cried saying he would be arrested if he didn’t join hands with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), news agency PTI reported. Speaking at event at a university in Visakhapatnam on Wednesday, Aaditya Thackeray said, “The current chief minister (Shinde) came to our house and cried because he was going to be arrested by a central agency, and he said 'I will have to hop over to the BJP otherwise they will arrest me'”.

Eknath Shinde last year had revolted against then chief minister Uddhav Thackeray, leading to the collapse of the Maha Vikas Aghadi government. He then joined hands with the BJP and became chief minister of the state in June 2022.

Refuting Aaditya Thackeray’s claims, MLA Santosh Bangar from the Shinde-led Shiv Sena said there was no threat by the BJP, and said the reason behind the revolt was the Thackeray’s alliance with the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and the Congress.

However, defending his party’s alliance, Aaditya Thackeray said, “My grandfather (Bal Thackeray) had tie-ups with the Congress before. He had better relations with the Gandhi family earlier also. He had openly supported Pranab Mukherjee and Pratibha Patil (both former Presidents) openly when the BJP was putting up another candidate (during presidential elections).”

Meanwhile, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut also supported Aaditya Thackeray's claims.

The Rajya Sabha member said Eknath Shinde had even come to his residence in Bhandup area and made similar pleas and that he did not want to go to jail. Raut said he even told Shinde not to get scared and that they should stand up against injustice.

Asked about Aaditya Thackeray's claims, Union minister Ramdas Athawale in Pune said, "Eknath Shinde is a strong man, he will never cry. The allegations made against Shinde are false."