ile photo | Chief Minister of Maharashtra Uddhav Thackeray and his son Aaditya Thackeray at Shivaji Park in Mumbai. | PTI
New Delhi, June 21 (PTI): At the centre of a political crisis in Maharashtra, Shiv Sena minister Eknath Shinde, who is camping in Surat with a few MLAs of his party, on Tuesday said he will never "cheat for power" and abandon the teachings of Bal Thackeray.
"We are staunch Shiv Sainiks of Balasaheb who gave us lessons on Hindutva. We will never cheat for power and will never abandon the teachings of Balasaheb and Anand Dighe for power," Shinde tweeted in Marathi, his first reaction on the ongoing political crisis triggered by him in the state.
The late Dighe, a Shiv Sena stalwart from Thane, was the political mentor of Shinde.
Shinde and a few MLAs of the ruling Shiv Sena have gone incommunicado and are camping in Surat, a move putting a question mark on the stability of the Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi dispensation also comprising te Nationalist Congress Party and te Congress.
Sena sacks Eknath Shinde from party post after revolt
Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut on Tuesday said Eknath Shinde has been removed as the party's group leader in the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly.
He has been replaced with Ajay Choudhury, Raut told reporters.
“Shinde has been replaced as the group leader of the Shiv Sena in the Maharashtra Assembly,” Raut said.
After the Sena-led Maha Vikas Aghadi suffered a setback in the Maharashtra Legislative Council polls on Monday, Shinde went incommunicado. He is camping at a hotel in Gujarat's Surat city along with some party MLAs.
