Uddhav Thackeray,
son of the iconic Balasaheb, fighting a rebellion that seeks to end his hold
over the Shiv Sena, refuses to go quietly into the good night. The Shiv Sena
has been “betrayed by its own people”, Uddhav Thackeray, 61, said while
speaking to party workers over a virtual meeting Friday night.  Eknath Shinde, a Shiv Sena MLA, has launched a
rebellion which has put the Maha Vikas Aghadi government at risk.

Thackeray, who has
made his attempts to placate the rebels by offering to resign, has now sounded
a defiant note. Speaking to Shiv Sena workers, Thackeray said the party workers
were his “wealth” and he did not care for any criticism coming his way.

Also Read | Maharashtra political crisis : A brief history of the present

Talking about the
rebels who have shown support to Eknath Shinde, Thackeray said, “We gave these
rebels tickets to contest assembly elections despite many of you being
aspirants for the same. These people are disgruntled after getting elected
owing to you hard work, and you are standing by the party in this crucial time.”

On Shinde, the Shiv
Sena president said, “I had told Eknath Shinde to look into complaints
regarding alliance partners. He told me that legislators were pressurising him
that the Sena should join hands with the BJP. I told him to bring these MLAs to
me, let’s discuss this.”

“BJP treated us
badly, didn’t honour promises. Many of the rebels have cases filed against
them. So, if they go with BJP, they will become clean, if they stayed with us,
they will go to jail. Is this a sign of friendship?” asked Thackeray.

Shinde, the
58-year-old legislator who orchestrated cross-voting in the Rajya Sabha polls
and then launched a rebellion against his party, has maintained that he doesn’t
want to split the Sena but wants his party to ally with the BJP and run the
Maharashtra government. He has said that the Maha Vikas Aghadi, an alliance of
Shiv Sena, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and the Congress is an “unnatural”
alliance.

On Saturday
morning, Shinde alleged that the security details of him and 16 other
legislators had been pared down. He called it “political vendetta” and said the
government is responsible for protecting the rebel legislators and their
families. Shiv Sena MP and national spokesperson Sanjay Raut, who is also the
editor of party mouthpiece Saamana, has denied the allegation.

Meanwhile, in a sarcasm-laden
editorial published Saturday in Saamana, Eknath Shinde and his group of rebels
have been cast as conducting a “yoga camp” in Assam’s Guwahati. “We are being
introduced anew to the self-respect of Hindutva. What proof of teaching a
lesson to Pakistan was shown at the yoga shivir? Pakistan’s infiltration continues
in Kashmir and Hindu Pandits are being killed.”

“Hindus have to
flee Kashmir during the rule of the BJP, which claims to be a Hindutva
government. Is this your superpower?” asked the editorial. Saamana has, in no
uncertain words, accused the BJP of engineering the rebellion in Shiv Sena
ranks by threatening MLAs with action by central agencies.