Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena MLA Aaditya Thackeray predicted on Thursday that Devendra Fadnavis will cease to be the Chief Minister of Maharashtra as he will be accommodated in the Union Cabinet soon. He said Deputy CM Eknath Shinde may try to return as Maharashtra’s Chief Minister once again.
Interacting with media persons, Aaditya Thackeray said, “This will be the last legislative session with Devendra Fadnavis as Chief Minister. Mark my words. The current political situation in Maharashtra will not last forever”.
He said the BJP’s Central leadership is behind political realignments like ‘Operation Tiger’. What is really happening behind the scenes is ‘Operation Devendra Fadnavis,’ which aims to sufficiently weaken Fadnavis so he will never be in contention for the Prime Minister’s chair.
Thackeray said, “The Shiv Sena is being unjustly victimized. The latest political developments which have taken place in Maharashtra are part of an ‘Operation Devendra Fadnavis’. There is a clear plan to clip the wings of Fadnavis with an eye on the 2029 elections”.
He also said that Deputy CM Eknath Shinde’s political movements in the state are being done at the behest of the BJP’s central leadership. He said, “Through such moves, an attempt is being made to ensure that Devendra Fadnavis will not be in the race for the post of Prime Minister.”
He also predicted that Devendra Fadnavis is likely to be accommodated as a Union Cabinet minister soon, and that current Deputy CM Eknath Shinde will try to become Maharashtra’s Chief Minister again.
To substantiate his claim, Aaditya Thackeray cited the examples of how Union Minister Nitin Gadkari and former Madhya Pradesh CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan, whose rising influence in national politics was effectively sidelined.
Significantly, even some BJP-led ruling Mahayuti alliance leaders seem to believe that Deputy CM Eknath Shinde’s increasing his political clout by getting Uddhav-led Sena MPs to join his Shiv Sena may be a “tactical ploy” to keep Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis in check in the run-up to the 2029 Lok Sabha and the Maharashtra assembly elections.
A BJP leader said, “I welcome Eknath Shines move to get Lok Sabha MPs because the NDA needs them to ensure that some important bills get passed in the Parliament. But why do we need the opposition’s members in the legislative Assembly and the Legislative Council as well?”