Eknath Shinde faction blames Sharad Pawar for splits in Shiv Sena

With rumours making rounds about Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena and Nationalist Congress Party planning to forge a pre-poll alliance, the Eknath Shinde faction accused NCP supremo Sharad Pawar to have been the player behind all the big splits in the right-wing party.

“You see history, every time Shiv Sena split, Pawar saheb had a role to play,” Deepak Kesarkar, spokesperson for the Shinde-group, said referring to the rebellions by Chhagan Bhujbal, Narayan Rane and Raj Thackeray.

“When Bhujbal left, it was Pawar saheb who took him along to the Congress, when Rane saheb left and joined Congress, he was guided by Pawar saheb and when Raj left and formed MNS, he had blessings of Pawar saheb,” Kesarkar said.

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Kesarkar, a three-time MLA from Sawantwadi, was in the NCP before he joined the Shiv Sena, hence knows the functioning of all parties. “I was in (the) NCP before I joined Shiv Sena and I know many things,” he said, but clarified that he had deep respect for Pawar.

“Whether when he was in the Congress or in the NCP, he always believed in those kinds of tactics to break parties for his own party's growth,” he said amid reports that Pawar wants NCP and Shiv Sena to come together for polls.

NCP chief spokesperson Mahesh Tapase rubbished the charges.

“These are baseless charges…perhaps, he does not know the history…he does not know what relations Balasaheb (Thackeray) and Pawar saheb had,” Tapase said.

Tapase said that when Devendra Fadnavis of BJP became chief minister in 2014, a simple invitation for the swearing-in ceremony was not extended to the Shiv Sena. “Unfortunately, some Shiv Sena leaders have bowed before the BJP now,” he said.

Referring to the 2019 formation of Maha Vikas Aghadi, Tapase said that it was Pawar who saved the prestige of Shiv Sena, when Uddhav Thackeray was made the Chief Minister. “It was because of NCP, the Shiv Sena got the post of Chief Minister…which Kesarkar might have forgotten,” he said.