Shiv Sena (Uddhav Thackeray) MP Sanjay Raut claimed that Chief Minister Eknath Shinde will soon be removed from the post, 16 rebel Sena MLAs will be disqualified and Ajit Pawar will become the next Chief Minister of Maharashtra.
The Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT) on Monday claimed Nationalist Congress Party leader Ajit Pawar, who was sworn in as the deputy chief minister of Maharashtra yesterday, would replace Chief Minister Eknath Shinde soon. MP Sanjay Raut said Shinde will be removed from the CM post and 16 rebel Shiv Sena MLAs will be disqualified.
“Today I am saying this in front of the camera, the Chief Minister of Maharashtra is going to change. Eknath Shinde is being removed. Eknath Shinde and the 16 MLAs are going to be disqualified,” Sanjay Raut told news agency ANI.
#WATCH | Uddhav Thackeray faction leader and MP Sanjay Raut, says "Today I am saying this in front of the camera, the Chief Minister of Maharashtra is going to change. Eknath Shinde is being removed. Eknath Shinde and the 16 MLAs are going to be disqualified" pic.twitter.com/R0YI0MwQwR
— ANI (@ANI) July 3, 2023
“The BJP is breaking Shiv Sena, NCP and Congress but this will not benefit them at all. In Maharashtra, we will fight the 2024 polls together. It is shocking that PM Modi had said that the leaders of NCP are involved in corruption and now those leaders have taken oath in Raj Bhawan,” he said.
#WATCH | Uddhav Thackeray faction leader and MP Sanjay Raut, says "BJP is breaking Shiv Sena, NCP and Congress but this will not benefit them at all. In Maharashtra, we will fight unitedly. It is shocking that PM Modi had said that the leaders of NCP are involved in corruption… pic.twitter.com/6VodgbNNXI
— ANI (@ANI) July 3, 2023
Ajit Pawar led a vertical split in the NCP to become the deputy chief minister, shocking his uncle Sharad Pawar, who founded the party 24 years ago. Eight NCP leaders were also sworn in as ministers in the Shinde-BJP government. In an editorial in its mouthpiece Saamana, Team Uddhav claimed that Ajit Pawar did not join the Eknath Shinde-led government for the deputy CM post.
“Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and rebel MLAs of the Sena would be disqualified soon and Pawar would be coronated,” it claimed.
“This new development will not go down well with the people of the state. The state had no such political tradition and it will never be supported by the people,” it said.