Fadnavis being kept out of PM race, this will benefit Eknath Shinde: Aaditya Thackeray

AMid the on-going defection undulation in Maharashtra political relation, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya william makepeace thackeray has suggested that the revolt is engineered to keep chief minister Devendra Fadnavis out of the PM race, a move he said will “benefit” former CM Eknath Shinde.In an exclusive interview to HT, Thackeray repeated the claims his father and UBT Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray earlier made: “Some elements in the BJP want Fadnavis in the Union cabinet to clip his wings.” He further added that doing so would favour deputy chief minister Eknath Shinde.“They want to make sure he is not the party’s prime ministerial face in the 2029 polls. This benefits Shinde because his single-point agenda is to become chief minister again,” Thackeray told HT.A similar claim was made by Uddhav last week, when he said that 'Operation Devendra' was at play to keep the chief minister “at a certain level” and in check. However, Fadnavis had rubbished these assertions, saying “I am a human being. I don't have wings, so who can clip them? I have the blessings of Maharashtra's 14 crore people and my senior leaders, so there is no need to worry”.Aaditya Thackeray slams BJP amid Maha crisisThackeray also cited the defections witnessed within the AAP in the Rajya Sabha a few months back, and the ongoing Parliament crisis in the Trinamool Congress, and said that the BJP wants to “crush the voice of Maharashtra”.When asked about defectors' allegations of inactivity within the Uddhav Sena, Aaditya said: “What about Arvind Kejriwal, Sharad Pawar, Mamata Banerjee? Don’t they meet their MPs? Still, there parties were split. As MPs, MLAs, they are local leaders. Why didn’t they stage protests on ground over local issues? The truth is, that they put a price tag on themselves and sold out.”His remarks come days after the six UBT Sena MPs defected to the Shinde Sena, considerably improving the NDA's Parliament tally.On close aide's exit from partyIn another blow to the UBT Sena, former MLA Sachin Ahir switched to the Shinde Sena earlier this week, and even got elected to the post of deputy chairman of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly.Ahir was considered a close aide of Aaditya Thackeray. Reacting to his decision to switch sides, Thackeray said: “When it comes to the MLC (Sachin Ahir), that was another business deal. The sad part is politics is now so commercialised that MPs and MLAs can be bought for a price.”Also Read: ‘Consider switching sides’: Bombay HC's remarks on ‘horse-trading’ earns praise from Uddhav SenaThackeray also alleged that not political ideology, but money played a role in the MPs' decision to jump ship. “They were bought out by Mindhe (Eknath Shinde) to empower the BJP to bring in the delimitation bill, which is against the interests of Maharashtra and to change Dr Ambedkar’s Constitution,” Thackeray said.He said that the endgame remains strengthning the tally of northern states in the Lok Sabha and crushing the voice of Maharashtra and that of the southern states.