Eknath Shinde Hindutva – who along with his 21 rebel MLAs created a crisis for the Uddhav Thackeray government – spoke to the chief minister this evening over the phone call of Shiv Sena’s envoy Milind Narvekar.
A 10-minute telephonic conversation between Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray and Shiv Sena rebel Eknath Shinde this evening has failed to show a way out of the impasse.
Eknath Shinde Hindutva: Sources indicated that Mr. Shinde’s demand, if anything, has only confirmed the rift.
Mr Shinde – who with his 21 rebel MLAs spelled trouble for the Uddhav Thackeray government – spoke to the chief minister this evening over phone from Milind Narvekar, who met him at the Surat hotel where he is camping out.
Claiming that he has not yet taken any decision or signed any document, Shinde declared that he has taken this step for the betterment of the party.
Sources said that when Uddhav Thackeray asked him to reconsider and return, Shinde demanded that the Shiv Sena renew its alliance with the BJP and jointly rule Maharashtra.
A source said, “So far no solution has come out of this conversation. As the Shiv Sena and Congress blame the BJP for engineering the crisis and claim that a lot of money has been diverted, Mr. Shinde has projected his move as an ideological decision.
A rough translation of his Marathi tweet before leaving for BJP-ruled Gujarat last night read, “Balasaheb has taught us Hindutva. We have never cheated for power and with respect to Balasaheb’s thoughts and teachings of Dharamveer Anand Dighe Sahab. Will ever cheat.”