'Balasaheb never wanted Raj Thackeray to leave Shiv Sena, Uddhav sidelined him': Eknath Shinde

Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, who joined Balasaheb Thackeray's Shiv Sena in the early 1980s, believes that Raj Thackeray deserved the party command after Balasaheb stepped down but Uddhav Thackeray sidelined him. Raj Thackeray resigned from Shiv Sena in November 2005 after being sidelined for years. 

"When Raj Thackeray was with them, why did Raj Thackeray leave? Raj Thackeray used to work with Balasaheb. During the 1995 elections, Raj Thackeray conducted all the tours and rallies. They were together; Raj Thackeray would hold separate rallies, and he would hold separate rallies. The entire atmosphere was built, but when the time came to give Raj Thackeray responsibility, Uddhav's intentions surfaced — just like how he desired to become the Chief Minister recently" Shinde said in an interview with ANI.  

"Raj Thackeray was sidelined. A proposal was brought in to make Uddhav the working president, and Raj Thackeray was removed. Even after being removed, Raj Thackeray would say, "I'll take responsibility for where Shiv Sena is weak," but even that was not given to him due to insecurity. Balasaheb Thackeray never wanted Raj Thackeray to leave," Shinde, who split Shiv Sena in June 2022, said.   

When asked why Raj Thackeray is not part of the Mahayuti, Shinde said, "he is with us." "In the previous Lok Sabha, he came to our stage." "He is not against us. There is still time. I mean, he (Raj Thackeray) deserved it at that time. They were the ones who were working," the chief minister said.
    
Shinde said that a leader of the party should look at the party's interests over family interests. "The focus should be on how to grow the party." 

The chief minister gave an example of how he gave the Cabinet berth to a party MP instead of his three-time MP son Shrikant Shinde. "My son, Dr Shrikant Shinde, became an MP for the third time. And we were getting a ministry in the Center. Our six MPs were saying to make Shrikant the minister. But Shrikant himself said that he would work for the party and to give the ministry to our senior MP." 

"So, if there had been someone else in my place, what would they have done? They would have first made their family members ministers. But we made the party's senior MP a minister. That's what we do when there's trust in the party when there's trust in the party workers, and when there's trust in the people's representatives."