‘Fadnavis promised he will groom Aaditya as next CM,’ claims Uddhav; ‘hallucinating’ retorts Dy CM

A war of words broke out between Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Uddhav Thackeray and Maharashtra’s deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis after the former claimed that the latter had told him in 2019 that he would groom his son Aaditya Thackeray as the next chief minister of Maharashtra as part of the power-sharing agreement between their parties.

Thackeray also said Fadnavis, a senior BJP leader, had told him that he would move to the Centre in the next two to three years.

Fadnavis rubbished Thackeray's claims stating that he had never promised chief ministership for Aaditya and had instead insisted that he must be trained to lead the (undivided) Shiv Sena.

Fadnavis said he would move to Delhi: Thackeray

Addressing a rally in Dharavi on Saturday (April 20), Thackeray claimed the then BJP chief Amit Shah had come to 'Matoshree', the private residence of the Thackerays, to seek an alliance with Shiv Sena (undivided).

“At that time, Fadnavis was made to sit outside the room of late Bal Thackeray while the two leaders (Shah and Thackeray) discussed modalities,” he claimed.

It was assured to me that the post of chief minister will be shared for 2.5 years (between BJP and Sena-undivided), he said.

“Later, Devendra Fadnavis told me, ‘Uddhav Ji, I will groom Aaditya for 2.5 years. We can make him CM after 2.5 years’. I told him (Fadnavis) that he (Aaditya) is just starting his electoral career. Do not put anything like this in his mind," Thackeray said.

When I asked Fadnavis how a senior leader like him would work under Aaditya, he (Fadnavis) said he would move to Delhi, the former chief minister added.

Thackeray has lost his mind: Fadnavis

The claim evoked a sharp reaction from Fadnavis, current deputy chief minister in the Mahayuti government of BJP, Shiv Sena led by Eknath Shinde and NCP led by Ajit Pawar, who said Thackeray has "lost his mind".

"Uddhav Thackeray has become 'bhramishta' (delirious). He is hallucinating. Initially, he said Amit Shah promised him a chief ministership in some room. Now he says I promised to make his son a CM. To hide one falsehood, another lie is being told," Fadnavis said.

He, however, admitted to having told Thackeray that Aaditya should be trained as he will eventually take control of the party (Shiv Sena) one day.

“Leave alone making him (Aaditya) a chief minister, I wouldn't make him even a minister. He (Aaditya) became a minister later (when MVA was in power) which landed the Shiv Sena (UBT) in its current situation today," Fadnavis said.

In his speech, Thackeray slammed Fadnavis for his reference to "some room" during his talks with Shah and said the room of Bal Thackeray is like a temple.

‘Imagined scripts’

Later Fadnavis posted on X, "We respect late Balasaheb Thackeray because he was always true to his word and never deviated from his ideals. We don't respect those who sacrificed the ideals of the late leader." "Who are you trying to fool by speaking imagined scripts? You are misleading yourself," he stated while slamming Thackeray.

Stating that Maharashtra's "socio-politics" and development was not a "Salim-Javed" script, Fadnavis said, “You have nothing to do with politics and development. So don't try to get involved in such scripts. You will get a befitting reply.”

Reacting to Thackeray’s claims, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde said there is a limit to speaking lies.

“He (Uddhav) wanted to become chief minister. As he couldn't become a chief minister when he was part of the Shiv Sena-BJP alliance, he switched sides," Shinde told reporters, referring to Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (undivided) joining hands with the NCP (undivided) and the Congress after the 2019 assembly elections.

Notably, a split engineered by Shinde led to the collapse of the Thackeray-led MVA government in June 2022.

(With inputs from agencies)