Maha: Shiv Sena MP slams Shinde faction, says there should be limit to one’s greed

PTI, Jul 19, 2022, 5:31 PM IST

Shiv Sena Member of Parliament, Sanjay Jadhav has expressed confidence that the party will tide over the existing crisis and slammed the rebel faction led by Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, saying there should be a limit to one’s greed. The Parbhani MP said it was Shiv Sena that shaped the political career of many leaders and they should never forget it. In a video, Jadhav said he stands firmly with party president Uddhav Thackeray and feels indebted to the party for fulfilling his expectations ”beyond imagination”. ”Whatever Shiv Sena has given me until now is beyond my expectations. I stand firmly with Uddhav Thackeray. No one should ever think that Sena will wither away so easily,” Jadhav said.

The Shiv Sena, smarting under the rebellion of Shinde and 40 MLAs, is facing a fresh crisis with 12 MPs meeting Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Tuesday and requesting him to change the party’s floor leader in the Lower House of Parliament. The Sena has 19 MPs in Lok Sabha including 18 from Maharashtra.

”Though Shiv Sena is going through a crisis, this time will pass. The BJP had just two MPs in 1984 but they are ruling today. So, no one should think that Bal Thackeray’s Shiv Sena will disintegrate so easily,” Jadhav said. In a dig at the Shinde camp, he said there should be a limit to one’s greed.

”It is the Shiv Sena which made us big politicians and taught us many things. It seems the party was good for some people till yesterday and now it has become bad. I feel if Eknath Shinde’s objective is fulfilled then this issue should end now,” he said.

Jadhav recalled that in the past he had offered to resign over some issues, but withdrew the decision after the party chief (Uddhav Thackeray) swiftly resolved that issue.

”He did everything to give justice to Shiv Sena activists in Parbhani. Shinde should have similarly approached him,” the MP added.

Jadhav said some ”opportunistic” people are siding with Shinde with the only objective to attack Shiv Sena. ”But a day will come when they will use someone against Shinde”.

The MP claimed the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) didn’t keep its word on a formula that the post of the prime minister should be with the BJP and that of the chief minister with Shiv Sena. ”After 2014, the BJP didn’t stick to its word. What we (Sena) should have done in such a scenario? The BJP rather bargained over portfolios allotted to the Sena. Had the BJP stuck to its word, the relations between it and Sena would not be strained. Everyone has been given the power to resist. The Sena might have it in a limited manner, but a pinch of salt spoils milk,” Jadhav added.