‘Get rid of the coterie’: Rebel Sena MLA's 'suggestion' to Uddhav Thackeray

Rebel Shiv Sena MLA Gulabrao Patil said there were some leaders in Uddhav Thackeray's coterie who never won an election, yet they didn't treat others with respect.

Rebel Shiv Sena MLA Gulabrao Patil on Sunday hit out at party president Uddhav Thackeray, alleging he did not give enough time to his legislators during his stint as the Maharashtra chief minister.

Patil also said that Thackeray should get rid of the coterie around him, PTI reported. "A 'sarpanch' (elected village head) ought to give audience to every elected representative of the local governing body. When Thackeray was just the party head, we could raise our complaints against a minister if he or she did not cooperate," Patil said.

"But after he became the chief minister, there was no one whom we could turn to for taking up our complaints of works not getting done. He should have given enough audience to the legislators," he said.

Several Shiv Sena MLAs who had joined the Eknath Shinde faction, blamed Sena spokesperson Sanjay Raut for the strain in ties between the BJP and the Shiv Sena. “There are some leaders surrounding Thackeray, who are damaging Shiv Sena further. Because of these leaders, people like us suffer...We were made to wait for hours. We are elected representatives who have won elections with the support of nearly three lakh voters, and still we get such disrespectful treatment,” Patil said without taking any name, adding that several people in Thackeray's circle have never won an election, but didn't treat others with respect.

For Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray. (PTI file)

Patil is among the 40 Sena MLAs who rebelled against the party leadership. Due to the rebellion led by Eknath Shinde, the Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government collapsed on June 29. The next day, Shinde took oath as the chief minister, while BJP's Devendra Fadnavis became his deputy.

Thackeray's son Aaditya Thackeray has been attacking the Shinde camp by hurling ‘traitors’ jibe. On Saturday, the former minister said that the new government will soon collapse and the state will face mid-term elections, PTI reported. He also said that the rebel Sena MLAs betrayed his father Uddhav Thackeray when he was unwell.