Had BJP kept its promise, Uddhav Thackeray himself would have nominated Eknath Shinde as Maharashtra CM, says Sanjay Raut

The Sena MP claims that a section of rebel MLAs want to return; Maharashtra BJP chief denies knowledge of secret meeting between Eknath Shinde, Amit Shah and Devendra Fadnavis. 

As Maharashtra’s political turmoil triggered by internecine strife within the ruling Shiv Sena entered its sixth day on Sunday, Sena MP Sanjay Raut revealed that had the BJP kept its promise of sharing the Maharashtra Chief Minister’s post with his party for two-and-a-half years, then Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray himself would have put forward rebel Sena Minister Eknath Shinde’s name as the Chief Minister.

Mr. Raut, who had earlier said that the Shiv Sena’s doors were closed for Mr. Shinde and the rebel MLAs, also said that he was still in talks with a section of legislators holed up in Guwahati while hinting at the possibility that they would be taken into the Sena’s fold if they returned to Mumbai.

“I have just spoken with some rebel Sena MLAs. The Shiv Sena’s doors are still open for those who want to return,” Mr. Raut told mediapersons in Mumbai.

At the same time, he chastised the rebel camp for sitting in Guwahati and teaching Mr. Uddhav Thackeray and the Sena in Maharashtra about loyalty to party founder Bal Thackeray.

“Sitting in Guwahati, do not preach to us about loyalty to Balasaheb Thackeray. Uddhav Thackeray has made it clear that the rebels cannot use his father’s name. Why don’t you [rebels with Mr. Shinde] use your father’s name to start a new party? You claim you are Balasaheb’s staunch followers, but such ‘staunch followers’ do not stab the Sena in the back. We [Uddhav Thackeray-led Sena] have been restrained till now. But lakhs of Shiv Sainiks are waiting for our sign,” he said, warning the rebels not to mislead people by claiming to be the ‘real Shiv Sena’.

Earlier, Mr. Raut had tweeted that the rebels could not stay indefinitely in Guwahati and that they would soon have to come to Mumbai’s ‘Chowpatty’.

He accused the BJP of sponsoring hotel parties of rebel Sena MLAs who had joined Mr. Shinde at Guwahati’s Radisson Blu while floods ravaged the north-eastern State of Assam.