Uddhav Thackeray on Friday removed Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde from the post of Shiv Sena leader in the party organisation.
In a letter issued by the party, Thackeray said that the Shinde has been indulging in "anti-party activities" and has voluntarily given up his membership of Shiv Sena.
"Therefore, in exercise of the powers vested in me as the Shivsena Paksha Pramukha, I remove you from the post of Shivsena Leader in the party organisation," the letter said.
Meanwhile, Thackeray today questioned the BJP's decision to install a "so-called Shiv Sainik" as Maharashtra chief minister when it did not keep its 2019 promise of rotating the top post and slammed the new government's move to relocate a Mumbai Metro car shed to green belt of Aarey Colony, reversing a key decision of the previous regime.
In his first public comments after stepping down as chief minister on June 29, Thackeray took on the former ally BJP and accused it of not honouring what he claimed was an understanding between him and Union minister Amit Shah to rotate the CM's post between the two saffron parties after the 2019 Assembly polls.
The programme at the party office in south Mumbai was meant to celebrate its return to power in Maharashtra after two-and-half years following the collapse of the Uddhav Thackeray-led MVA government.
Addressing a press conference, Thackeray refused to accept Eknath Shinde as a "Shiv Sena chief minister" and wondered what the BJP has gained by not having its own leader at the helm for the remaining term of the top office.
Thackeray also made a fervent appeal to the Shinde-led government, which will face floor test in the Assembly on July 4, not to go ahead with the Metro-3 car shed project at Aarey Colony, a green belt in suburban Goregaon which was declared a reserved forest by the previous MVA regime.
(With PTI inputs)
