True Shiv Sainiks don’t leave ideology: Eknath Shinde jabs Uddhav at Dussehra rally

Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde said true Shiv Sainiks don’t leave the ground or ideology, in a dig at rival Uddhav Thackeray during Azad Maidan Dussehra event.

Addressing the mega event on Saturday evening, Eknath Shinde said, “Balasaheb Thackeray gave the slogan ‘garv se ka ho hum Hindu hain’ (say with pride that we are Hindu). But some people are shy to say this now. We are proud to say these slogans.”

“A true Shiv Sainik doesn’t leave his ground and his ideology,” he added, taking a dig at Uddhav Thackeray whose Shiv Sena faction is an ally of the Congress.

Eknath Shinde said he “freed Shiv Sena” when he walked out from the party-led Maha Vikas Aghadi alliance in 2022.

“When our government came, they kept giving deadlines that our government would collapse. But this Eknath Shinde was enough for them,” he said.

“If we hadn’t taken that step, true Shiv Sainiks would have been degraded. After coming to power, we have made Maharashtra number 1 in investments and FDI,” he said.

Two factions emerged in Shiv Sena when Eknath Shinde staged a coup in June 2022. The party was divided between the supporters of Uddhav Thackeray and Ekanth Shinde. Shinde’s coup led to the fall of the Maha Vikas Aghadi government in Maharashtra and the dethroning of Uddhav Thackeray as chief minister.

Shinde was later sworn in as the Maharashtra Chief Minister with the help of the BJP.