Mumbai: Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Saturday asked Shiv Sena cadres to expand the party shakha network to all villages ahead of the Lok Sabha and assembly polls and shun complacency. Addressing a party conclave at Kolhapur, Shinde said that the Shiv Sena (Eknath Shinde) should be in a lead position in at least 50 places in every assembly segment and their future depends upon the strength of the party organisation.
“We should have shakha in every village, and a party flag outside the border of every village,” Shinde said, in perhaps the first such message after taking the reins of the party post in the 2022 rebellion against Uddhav Thackeray’s leadership. He also asked party workers to spend more time in their respective assembly constituencies rather than frequently visiting Mumbai.
Shinde told party workers, “Appoint good and honest workers and not those who run behind you, otherwise this will hurt the party. The party worker has to connect with the people.” He also asked Sena leaders to stand with the party cadres if they need any help in hospitals, police, or court (related matters).
In a dig at Thackeray, he said he prefers to work “face to face” and not through Facebook. “He (Thackeray) can even supplant Dhritrashtra in loving his son,” Shinde added. In his long speech, he alleged that Thackeray has multiple faces.
“Chehre ke peeche kayi chehre. Uddhav teases me over 50 khoke but he needs a full container of money. I took a decision to leave the government because Shiv Sainik was demotivated under the leadership of Uddhav Thackeray. Some MPs supported me and took the decision to leave the ruling party. Some ministers were ready to leave their posts. If I was wrong, my candidates wouldn’t have won the gram panchayat elections which were conducted recently,” he said.
