‘If you want me to quit, tell me on my face,’ Uddhav tells rebel Sena MLAs

Addressing people in a virtual address, the chief of the crisis hit party says, I will have no problem if another Sena worker will become the Chief Minister

Faced with a revolt within the party, Shiv Sena president and Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Wednesday asked rebel Eknath Shinde and MLAs to come to Mumbai and tell him to quit from the post on his face instead of hiding somewhere out of Maharashtra. He said that he will have no problem in doing so if another Sena worker is going to become the Chief Minister as he always chose to face challenges in his political life.

“We joined hands with the Congress and the NCP. But it is not them who are telling me quit. Sad part for me is that, my own people have lost trust on me. I considered them mine, I don’t know about them. I am ready to resign. But come and meet me face-to-face. Tell me that I should quit on my face and I will resign,” Mr. Thackeray said, in an emotional address to people through Facebook.

Mr. Thackeray has tested positive for the COVID-19 virus. He said that he was shifting from official Chief Minister’s residence of Varsha to his personal residence.

Mr. Thackeray appealed the rebel party MLAs to not damage the Sena, using party machinery itself. “Not only Chief Minister’s post, but if a Sena worker comes to me and tells me that I am unfit for the Sena president’s job. I will quit. I have faced hardships before and I am ready to take on any challenge in future. If Sena worker is going to become a Chief Minister, then I have no problem is doing this,” he said.

Noting that a number of rebel MLAs with leader Eknath Shinde was growing, Mr. Thackeray said that numbers are not important to him. “This is no drama. My treasure is the love that you shower on me. Those who love me should come to me and tell me. I will quit Chief Minister’s post. But keep showering your love,” he said.

Recalling how the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) which comprised of the Shiv Sena, the Congress abd the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) was formed in 2019, Mr. Thackeray said that following the meeting of MLAs, NCP chief Sharad Pawar took him aside and asked to take the responsibility as Chief Minister. “It was a challenge. I had no experience. But I decided to take up the challenge. I have always done that. I have fought and I will continue,” he said.

Ridiculing the rebel leader Eknath Shinde’s claim that he was a worker of a Sena that was formed by late Bal Thackeray, Mr. Thackeray reminded without naming him that that the party made him Minister post 2014 assembly polls and later in 2019 as well. “When some were getting everything, there was no complain,” he taunted.