Talking to reporters, the Shiv Sena leader alleged that Thackeray’s ego is destroying his party, dismissing the former chief minister’s claim that the rebel lawmakers had previously won elections solely because of him.
Thackeray has embarked on a tour of the constituencies represented by the six party MPs who crossed over to the rival Shiv Sena faction led by Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde earlier this week.
“This tour of Uddhav Thackeray is merely a ‘touch and go’ one. It is meant only to show that he has visited constituencies where the MPs have left him. This is being done simply so that people learn through the news that he has visited their constituencies,” Shirsat said.
Shirsat also pointed to a coincidence that Thackeray and his party leaders travelled to Nagpur the same aircraft as Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis.
“I don’t think any communication took place between them. But communication should take place because it holds importance in politics,” he said.
Reacting to Thackeray’s statement earlier in the day that the rebel MPs had won previous Lok Sabha elections solely because of him, Shirsat countered that such arrogance was destroying the Opposition faction.Thackeray’s ego is finishing his party, he alleged.
“If everyone won elections on your word, then why did their (Sena UBT) MLA count drop from 63 to 20 in the last assembly election? They also lost the Mumbai civic elections. The MPs and MLAs who won elections under his leadership left the party. Shiv Sena (UBT) and its leadership should take responsibility for this,” he said.
