Former minister Kadam accuses NCP of undermining Shiv Sena during MVA rule

A day after he quit as a leader of Shiv Sena and was subsequently sacked by the party, former minister Ramdas Kadam attacked the coterie around Sena president Uddhav Thackeray and accused them of being in cahoots with the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP)

A day after he quit as a leader of Shiv Sena and was subsequently sacked by the party, former minister Ramdas Kadam attacked the coterie around Sena president Uddhav Thackeray and accused them of being in cahoots with the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP).

Former minister Ramdas Kadam, along with his son and rebel Shiv Sena MLA Yogesh Kadam, interacts with the media at Kandivali on Tuesday. Satish Bate/HT Photo

Kadam, who had thrown his lot with the Sena rebels led by chief minister Eknath Shinde, and was appointed a leader in the new executive formed by him, said the NCP was working to undermine Sena during the tenure of the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) regime.

“Uddhavji must introspect,” Kadam said, adding he would try to ensure a truce between the two camps, but for this, Thackeray needed to snap the party’s alliance with the NCP. He was speaking to a Marathi news channel on Tuesday.

Kadam questioned Uddhav if late Sena chief Bal Thackeray “would have allowed you to join hands with Congress and the NCP to become the chief minister”.

“Who are you trying to terminate? It is because of our hard work that you are occupying this chair,” Kadam said and alleged that Uddhav did not call him for a discussion before taking disciplinary action against him.

Kadam claimed that when the process of forming the MVA government was under way, he had requested Uddhav “with folded hands” against this. “[I said] Uddhavji do not go with the NCP. The late Sena supremo fought Sharad Pawar and Sonia Gandhi all his life. It was his lifelong struggle against Congress and the NCP and his Hindutva that gave him a worldwide reputation as the Hindu Hriday Samrat.”

“This is not the Shiv Sena of Balasaheb,” he said.

Arvind Sawant, Lok Sabha MP and Sena spokesperson, questioned why Kadam had ditched the party in times of a crisis and acted against the party stance. “Those who have gone blind due to selfishness should not try to give us a new vision,” he said.

The former minister further alleged that then deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar had implemented “a single-point programme” of trying to finish Sena, and also criticised Yuva Sena chief Aaditya Thackeray. “I imposed the ban on [single-use] plastic [as the environment minister during 2014-19], but gave the credit to Aaditya… he used to call me kaka [uncle] but eventually took over my department [as the environment minister in the MVA government],” Kadam said.

Reacting to the allegations, NCP’s chief spokesperson Mahesh Tapase said the Sena rebels were blaming his party to justify their actions. “The real mastermind behind the Shinde group breaking Sena is the Bharatiya Janata Party…” he said.