All is not well in the Shiv Sena, the party that heads the Maha Vikas Aghadi government in Maharashtra. Infighting has surfaced within the party at a time when Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray is recovering from a major spine surgery.
A veteran Sena leader and former minister Ramdas Kadam has led a blistering attack against ministers Anil Parab and Uday Samant for trying to finish off the party by colluding with the NCP. Parab is the guardian minister of Ratnagiri district and Samant is the guardian minister of Sindhudurg district.
Kadam has blamed Parab and Samant for dividing the party while neglecting the loyalists like him, and said he will decide his future course of action after meeting Thackeray. He claimed that Parab is a traitor who is rolling out a red carpet for the NCP and MNS leaders while keeping Shiv Sena leaders away.
This is the first revolt by a senior Shiv Sena leader after Thackeray became the chief minister. The Sena has seen some high-profile leaders like Chhagan Bhujbal, Narayan Rane and Raj Thackeray leaving the party. Kadam said he is a hardcore Shiv Sainik who has toiled for the party for the last 52 years and added that speaking against Parab doesn’t mean taking an anti-Shiv Sena stand. “Parab and Samant were made ministers to strengthen the Sena and not to finish off senior party leaders, who have given their sweat and blood to the party,” he said.
“I will never leave the saffron flag. I will never quit the party even if I am thrown out. But my children are free to make their own decisions,” he said. When asked whether he would join the BJP as it also represents the saffron, he said there is a difference between the two parties (the Sena and the BJP). Parab, however, downplayed Kadam’s outburst. “Kadam has every right to speak.” On the other hand, Samant said, “Before 2014, I was working as an opponent of Shiv Sena. Until then, I did not have much loyalty to it. If I have worked against Shiv Sena after joining the party, I am ready to atone. A senior leader like Ramdas Kadam has the right to pull up.”
Kadam has urged Thackeray to keep a tab on Parab to avoid damage to the party’s prospects in the Konkan region, which is Shiv Sena’s pocket borough. Kadam, who was not nominated by the party for the recent Legislative Council polls from Mumbai local bodies constituency, said that in 2019 when the MVA government was formed, he had suggested to Thackeray that senior leaders like him, Subhash Desai and Diwakar Raote make way for young leaders in the cabinet.
“Raote and Desai had agreed, but I was shocked to see Desai in the first list of council of ministers,” he said. Replying to questions, Kadam said he wanted to meet Thackeray to know if he agrees with Parab’s views and style of functioning. Kadam said he had not visited ‘Matoshree’ in the last two years. “I have written a detailed letter to Uddhavji about the party affairs. If I am called for a meeting, I will explain my position, following which I will make a decision about my future,” he said.
