Had Shah kept words in 2019, Maharashtra would've got BJP CM now: Uddhav

Asserting that there can be no Shiv Sena chief minister in Maharashtra by keeping the party aside, its president Uddhav Thackeray on Friday said had Union Home Minister Amit Shah kept his word of rotating the top post in the state in 2019, the BJP would have been steering the government now.

Addressing his first press conference at Shiv Sena Bhavan, the party headquarters at Dadar in central Mumbai, after stepping down as chief minister on June 29, Thackeray also made a fervent appeal to the new government led by Sena rebel Ekanth Shinde not to go ahead with the Metro-3 car shed project at Aarey Colony, a green belt in suburban Goregaon. In their first cabinet meeting held on Thursday, chief minister Shinde and his deputy Devendra Fadnavis of the BJP directed the state administration to submit a proposal to build the Metro-3 car shed in Aarey Colony instead of Kanjurmarg.

The Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government had shifted the proposed car shed site to Kanjurmarg from Aarey Colony on ground of environment protection, but the issue got embroiled in a legal dispute.

The way this (Shinde) government was formed and those (the BJP) who formed the governmentthey have said that a so-called Shiv Sainik has been made the chief minister.

"Those who did not keep the word two-and-a-half-years back and by back-stabbing (the Sena) again attempts are made to create confusion among the Shiv Sainiks by calling it (Shinde) a Shiv Sena CM, then this is not a Sena CM. There can be no Sena CM by keeping the Sena aside," Thackeray asserted. In a surprise move, Shinde on Thursday took oath as the chief minister and Fadnavis as his deputy. Around 40 Sena MLAs led by Shinde rebelled against the party leadership last week which eventually led to the collapse of the Thackeray-led government.

Had everything taken place as decided between me and Amit Shah, the change of power would have been graceful and dignified. And I would not have become the chief minister or the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) would not have been formed," Thackeray said. Had Shah kept his word (on rotation of CM's post for 2.5 years each between the Shiv Sena and the BJP), it would have been a great government, the former CM said.

Thackeray sought to know what the BJP has gained when it does not have its own chief minister for the rest of the term. In 2019, the Shiv Sena and the BJP fought the Assembly polls together, but parted ways due to differences over sharing the chief minister's post. The Sena claims it was decided that all posts, including that of the chief minister, would be shared between the two saffron parties.

The BJP, however, rejected the claim which led the Shiv Sena to walk out of the saffron alliance and join hands with its ideological and political rivals Congress and the NCP to form the MVA government. The Sena president described the rebellion in his party that cost him his government as a "mockery of democracy and waste of people's votes". Commenting on the recent political upheaval in the state, triggered by a revolt in the Shiv Sena, Thackeray stressed on the Right to Recall procedure for public representatives. On the Aarey Metro car depot issue, Thackeray asked the BJP not to betray Mumbai like it "betrayed" him in politics. Thackeray said he was saddened by the new government's plan to relocate the Metro car shed to Aarey Colony, which enjoys the state of a reserved forest, from Kanjurmarg in suburabn Mumbai.

"I request with folded hands. Don't vent out your anger against me in Mumbai. Don't stab Mumbai in its heart. I am very upset that Aarey's decision has been overturned. This is not personal property," Thackeray said.

After coming to power in 2019, Thackeray had decided not to go ahead with the construction of the Metro-3 car shed in Aarey Colony - a forest land tract adjoining the Sanjay Gandhi National Park - a decision taken by the erstwhile Fadnavis-led BJP government.

"I had stayed the decision. I gave an option of Kanjurmarg (as an alternate site). I am with the environment and environmentalists. One should avoid any act if there is confusion. Do not play with the environment of Mumbai, the former CM pleaded. Thackeray said his apprehension is that once Aarey Colony witnesses large-scale movement of people because of the car shed, it will hurt the wildlife around.