‘I was suppressed for long time; will not resort to vendetta politics’
MUMBAI: Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Monday said he had been suppressed for a long time and the rebellion led by him was a fallout of the unfair treatment meted out to him but asserted that he will always remain a Shiv Sainik and will not play vendetta politics.
In his maiden speech after the newly-formed government led by him won the trust vote in the Legislative Assembly, Shinde admitted that BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis was the real "kalakar" (artist) behind the formation of the new government.
"The happenings of today didn't happen in just one day," Shinde said.
In his speech, Shinde referred to his roots as a Shiv Sena worker.
"I am a hardcore Shiv Sainik and will remain so. I alone had closed down 16 ladies' bars in and around Thane. There are some 100 various criminal charges registered against me," said Shinde, who is an MLA from Thane city.
"I am a very quiet person and I can assure you that there would be no vengeance despite bad words being used against us by our own party members. When we had gone to the Kamakhya temple in Guwahati, it was said that 40 bulls (male buffalos) would be sacrificed. Now, who got sacrificed," he asked without taking the name of former CM and Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray.
Amid the political crisis, Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut had said that "40 living corpses will return from Guwahati".
Shinde disclosed that he was offered the post of deputy chief minister during 2014-19 amid simmering tensions between the ruling BJP and Sena, but the Sena refused apparently because it was averse to him becoming the deputy CM.
Shinde also said that he had made up his mind to resign (as the minister in the erstwhile
BJP-Sena government) but it was the then chief minister Devendra Fadnavis who supported him.
"I had been told by Union minister (and BJP leader) Nitin Gadkari that I will soon get a good post, he said.
Shinde said though the Rajya Sabha elections held last month were crucial for Shiv Sena, the party could win only one seat.
The Shiv Sena's second nominee Sanjay Pawar had lost to BJP's third candidate Dhananjay Mahadik in the RS polls.
"Though I was kept out of the Maharashtra Legislative Council elections, I managed to get three votes from non-Sena voters for our candidates," he said.
Shinde revealed that the last trigger for his rebellion was the Legislative Council elections held last month.
"On the day of the legislative council (June 20) elections and the way I was treated, I had decided that I will not be turning back. There was 'nakabandi' by the police. I was aware of how to locate mobile towers and track a person. I also happened to know how to evade nakabandi," he said referring to his exit from Mumbai to Surat.