Bad times seem to be continuing for Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray. The latest buzz in Maharashtra politics is that his long-trusted aide Milind Narvekar could possibly CM Eknath Shinde’s faction.
“After (Champa Singh) Thapa, now Milind Narvekar is on his way,” minister from Shinde camp Gulabrao Patil said while addressing a gathering in Dhule on Saturday.
As per news reports, Navrekar is said to have maintained contact with Shinde even after the collapse of the Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government on June 29 this year.
Shinde led a revolt with 39 other legislators against the Sena leadership and was eventually sworn in as the chief minister the next day along with BJP’s Devendra Fadnavis as his deputy. The acrimony between the Thackeray-led Sena and the BJP has intensified ever since.
Days before the collapse, Thackeray on June 21 deputed two leaders — Milind Narvekar and Ravindra Phatak to drive to Surat and have a one-on-one meeting with Eknath Shinde. News reports said that after almost one-and-a-half-hour close door meeting, Milind left for Mumbai. Before leaving his statement was,
“Eknath Shinde had telephonic conversation with Uddhav Thackeray.”
Although speculations are rife that Navrekar could jump ship to Shinde camp, Patil’s statement on Saturday was the first time a minister publicly addressed the buzz. He added, “The day we get the election symbol — bow and arrow — they will find no MLAs on their side.”
Navrekar once had a lot of sway in the Shiv Sena and used to have a say in in distribution of party tickets. He even mediated between Thackeray and Fadnavis when the two parties formed the government in 2014, a Hindustan Times report said.
However, when the MVA came power, Navrekar’s strength inside Shiv Sena was said to have weakened. Instead, a retired bureaucrat was purportedly calling the shots in the chief minister’s office. It was during this period that Narvekar is said to have patched up with Shinde. Though Navrekar continues to be in Thackeray’s inner circle, he does not seem to hold any major responsibility.
Shiv Sena spokesperson Manish Kayande said that they are trying to create a perception. “It is nothing but a failed attempt to create a perception that many leaders from the party are joining them,” Kayande was quoted by Hindustan Times as saying.
CM Eknath Shinde, when asked about the buzz regarding Navrekar, brushed off the question saying he was not aware of any such development.
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