No desire to be in chief minister’s position: Uddhav Thackeray

AHMEDNAGAR: A month after urging NCP (SP) and Congress to go to the hustings for the assembly polls with a chief ministerial candidate, Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray has said he didn't harbour any aspiration to become the CM. He said he hadn't desired the post in 2019 either, when MVA came to office.
MVA partners have so far been reluctant to project a CM face for the polls.Thackeray's push last month didn't elicit a positive response, with NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar claiming that there was no need for MVA to do so and that the chief ministerial candidate would be decided based on which party wins the maximum number of seats in the alliance.
"Whether I am in power or not, I feel empowered by the support of the people. Balasaheb [Thackeray, Sena founder] never held a position of power but all powers were wrested with him because of people's support," Thackeray said at a protest on Sunday of govt employees in Ahmednagar demanding restoration of the old pension scheme.
He reiterated that MVA will reintroduce the old pension scheme if it forms govt after the assembly polls.
Hitting out at CM and Sena chief Eknath Shinde, Thackeray said that those who betrayed their parent party, which enabled their political rise, can also betray the people. "For this reason, I don't want this govt to come to power again... You can't retire me. As long as I enjoy your support, power is in my hands. The power of people is important," he said.
He slammed the Mahayuti govt for taking undue credit over public welfare schemes. "It is govt's duty to implement schemes in the interest of people. We also had waived crop loans of farmers during MVA's tenure, but we did not create publicity," he said.
Continuing the attack on Sena at Paithan in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, he wondered if women would trust "traitors" as their brothers who have betrayed their parent party, an oblique reference to govt's dole of Rs 1,500 a month for underprivileged women aged 21-65.
Justifying the protests over the sexual assault of two girls at a Badlapur school, he referenced to agitation in West Bengal over the rape and murder of a doctor at a Kolkata hospital. He said people have the right to seek justice against the delay in filing of an FIR by police in the Badlapur case. "But police acted against the protesters," he said. "When we protest, we are accused of politicising the issue. Protesters have the right to ask for justice, like what is happening in Bengal."
He said his party may not be in office but it knows how to fulfil the commitments made to the people. "This is our gharaneshahi (dynasty) of honouring commitments," he said in an apparent rebuttal of BJP's criticism of dynastic politics.
Agencies & Tushar Pawar in Nashik