Eknath Shinde was addressing a meeting of party workers at Ramtek in Nagpur.

Nagpur:

Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Sunday said he defected because Uddhav Thackeray abandoned the ideology of Shiv Sena founder Bal Thackeray.

Addressing a meeting of party workers at Ramtek in Nagpur, Shinde said he did not want to become the chief minister but had to fight back after seeing Bal Thackeray’s ideology being compromised. Mr. Shinde broke away from the Uddhav Thackeray-led organization in June 2022 and formed the government with the support of the Bharatiya Janata Party.

“Balaasaheb Thackeray used to consider us (party workers) as friends, but he considers us family help,” the chief minister said in yet another jibe at the Shiv Sena (UBT) chief.

He also said the party grows when leaders reach out to grassroots workers instead of sitting at home.

Asking people to vote for the ruling alliance to make Narendra Modi the prime minister for a third term, Shinde said the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi does not have any development agenda or intention.

“Details of seat sharing among parties in the ruling alliance will be finalized in two to three days. Mahayuthy will win all the seats in Vidarbha,” he later told reporters at the airport.

Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray issued a statement saying the chief minister was gifting four to five seats to allies to ensure his son’s renomination from Kalyan, Mr Shinde said , those making such criticisms must pay attention to the struggles in MVA.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)