Shirdi (Maharashtra): Shiv Sena-UBT leader Uddhav Thackeray on Monday said he is a “well-wisher” of Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, and will back the latter’s “prime ministerial” ambitions.
“If he (Fadnavis) thinks I am his enemy, I am his well-wisher. I am speaking about his mann ki baat,” Thackeray said at a press conference in Shirdi.
Thackeray claimed that plans were afoot to ensure that Fadnavis is not in the race for the prime minister’s post in 2029.
“If a person from Maharashtra is going to become the prime minister, why should my party not be with him,” Thackeray said. However, if Fadnavis were to declare his prime ministerial ambitions, it will be akin to (political) suicide in his party, he added.
“If Fadnavis were to announce that he is preparing for the prime minister’s post, would he even remain in the party,” Thackeray said.
Addressing a rally in Shirdi, represented in Lok Sabha by Bhausaheb Wakchaure, who recently joined the Shiv Sena led by Eknath Shinde, Thackeray said whichever party the MP joined had lost power.
He said during his visit to the temple in Shirdi, he had prayed to Sai Baba for protecting the “chair” of Fadnavis.
Thackeray claimed that Union Home Minister Amit Shah was behind six Members of Parliament from the Shiv Sena (UBT) joining the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena.
