Kirit Somaiya’s ‘mafia CM’ jibe at Uddhav has left Camp Shinde fuming

It has been more than a fortnight since Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shinde’s rebellion against Uddhav Thackeray resulted in him becoming the next chief minister of the Maharashtra with the support of the BJP.

However, even as talks of cabinet expansion are going on, the first signs of a rift in Shinde’s faction – comprising rebel Sena MLAs and BJP – have already emerged. The latest example is a squabble between BJP’s Kirit Somaiya and Sena MLAs supporting Shinde over the former’s dig at Uddhav Thackeray.

Also read: Uddhav faction files reply in SC: ‘No better way to reward defection than with CM’s post’

On Friday, Somaiya, after visiting Shinde with his son Neil, had tweeted a photo of the three of them along with the caption: “Met ‘Rikshawala’ CM Eknath Shinde at Mantralaya today along with Neil Somaiya, expressed Best Wishes & Thanked him for replacing MAFIA CM.”

The BJP leader’s jibe at Uddhav Thackeray did not sit well with the rebel Sena MLAs, who called him out for calling Uddhav a “mafia CM” and asserted that the “personal attack” at the former chief minister was unwarranted.

Deepak Kesarkar, spokesperson of the Shinde faction, and Sanjay Gaikwad, the Sena MLA from Buldhana, were both furious over Somaiya’s unnecessary targeting of Uddhav. They said that they would not sit back if there was any “personal attack” against Uddhav Thackeray.

Gaiwkad said that they would not “care about power” if Somaiya continued his personal attacks against the Thackeray family.

Speaking with The Federal, Kesarkar said: “It doesn’t look nice if somebody refers to your party chief with such words. If he (Somaiya) has any allegations, he should be direct about it.”

Also read: We told Uddhav 3-4 times to go with BJP, but he didn’t listen: Shinde

He said that senior BJP leaders from the state such as Chandrakant Patil and Devendra Fadnavis, and the rebel MLAs, recently had a meeting at a South Mumbai hotel after the latter returned to the city.

During the meeting, an understanding was reached that there would be no targeting of Uddhav or Aaditya. “Somaiya wasn’t aware of the understanding because he was not present for the meeting,” said Kesarkar.

“We have left our family…and this has hurt us as much as it has hurt them,” said Kesarkar. “We requested BJP that since we are leaving our family and coming together with them, they shouldn’t say anything offensive about the Sena party chief.” He said that Fadnavis had agreed to this understanding.

Also read: Bow and arrow poll symbol will remain with Sena, asserts Uddhav

“I got a call from Somaiya (over the weekend) saying that he would not speak ill of the Thackeray family anymore until he received instructions otherwise…but would continue doing so against other Sena leaders such as Anil Parab,” said Kesarkar.

He added: “The Thackeray family is a respected family in Maharashtra and nobody should speak in this manner against them. Devendra ji respects Uddhav ji as well. Mr Somaiya has taken back his words for now.”