- Monday, May 05, 2025
By: Shubham Ghosh
IN yet another twist to the ongoing political drama in the western Indian state of Maharashtra on Friday (1), former chief minister Uddhav Thackeray removed Eknath Shinde as the leader of the Shiv Sena, a party which was founded by his father Bal Thackeray in 1966.
The move came a day after Shinde, who revolted against the former MVA (Maha Vikas Aghadi or Maharashtra Development Front) government of Thackeray along with a substantial number of lawmakers that left the government in minority, succeeded Thackeray as the chief minister of the state with the support of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
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In a letter issued by the Sena, Thackeray said the current chief minister has been indulging in “anti-party activities” and gave up his membership voluntarily.
Thackeray’s decision came at a time when the Sena has seen a serious split with the Thackeray and Shinde-led factions locking horns over owning the actual legacy of the late Thackeray and the party. Earlier on Friday, Thackeray refused to recognise Shinde as a Sena chief minister and also slammed the BJP.
Shiv Sena, the Indian party which is half in power and half not, set for symbol fight
“Those who have formed the new government have made a so called Shiv Sainik as CM. I was saying the same thing 2.5 years ago. The same formula was decided between me and Amit Shah that Shiv Sena and BJP will share the CM position for half term each. Whatever is happening today would have happened with respect,” Thackeray said this during his address at the Sena Bhavan in state capital Mumbai.
Shinde, who took oath as the chief minister on Thursday (30), had named the rebel group as ‘Shiv Sena Balasaheb’, triggering a legacy war with the Thackeray family.
He even changed his Twitter display picture, showing one featuring him and the late Sena founder.
“It was the decision taken by Devendra Fadnavis to make Balasaheb’s Shiv Sainik the CM despite the BJP having more MLAs. Fadnavis could have become CM going by the numbers but he showed a big heart and I thank him,” Shinde said in the presser when his name was announced for the top post.
Fadnavis, who has been the chief minister twice and served as the leader of opposition when the MVA coalition was in power, took oath as his deputy in the Shinde-led government.
