Balasaheb Thackeray Formed "Only 1 Shiv Sena": Sharad Pawar Faction MP Supriya Sule

Nationalist Congress Party MP (Sharad Pawar faction) Supriya Sule said on Sunday there is only one Shiv Sena in Maharashtra, which was formed by the late Balasaheb Thackeray.

She was responding to Union Minister Nitin Gadkari's statement about the real Shiv Sena during an interview.

"Gadkari is the only person in the BJP who speaks the truth; for me, there is only one Shivsena in Maharashtra, which was formed by the late Balasaheba Thackeray , and he handed over the responsibility to Uddhav while he was alive. There are duplicate things currently, but people know the exact difference between gold and bronze," she told reporters in Pune on Sunday.

On the issue of contractual recruitment, she demanded an apology from Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis for allegations against senior Pawar.

"Devendra ji (Fadnavis) should apologise... He is confused. I feel bad for him... The GR (Government Resolution) that he read, whose signatures were there in it? ... What was Sharad Pawar's role in that GR? When you make allegations, they should be substantiated. He misled Maharashtra, so he should first apologize." Ms Sule added.

Mr Fadnavis claimed that the decisions regarding contractual hiring were made during the 15-year rule of the Democratic Front (DF) coalition, led by Congress leaders Ashok Chavan and Prithviraj Chavan from 1999 to 2014.

However, the Congress denied the allegations by Mr Fadnavis.

BJP workers on Saturday held a 'Chappal Maro' protest against the MVA (Maha Vikas Aghadi) government and then Congress Chief Ministers - Ashok Chavan and Prithviraj Chavan, who ran the Maharashtra government during the 15-year rule of the Democratic Front (DF) coalition (1999-2014) on the issue of contractual recruitment policy.

Eknath Shinde led Maharashtra Government on Saturday ended contractual hiring via outsourcing. Amid huge uproar and protests, the Maharashtra Government scrapped the Government resolution (GR) for contractual recruitments in various Government departments

Earlier this month, Maharashtra Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) President Sharad Pawar targeted the Maharashtra Government over the 'contractual hiring' of personnel in Mumbai police and said that the recruitment should be done on a permanent basis.

"The state government has decided to make government recruitment on a contract basis. The delegation that met me raised some issues with me. The government has decided to recruit in the police force on a contract basis. Since this recruitment is only for 11 months, what next?", he asked.

Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Ajit Pawar asserted that recruitment in government departments on a contract basis was the decision of the previous government.

The Shiv Sena split in June last year after Eknath Shinde, who was then a Minister in the Uddhav Thackeray cabinet splintered a coup within the ranks of the party and formed an alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), securing the Chief Minister's post for himself.

The Uddhav Thackeray-led faction of the Shiv Sena moved the Supreme Court challenging the EC's move to allot the name 'Shiv Sena' and 'Bow and Arrow' symbol to the rival faction led by CM Shinde.

The Uddhav Thackeray faction of the Shiv Sena has sought disqualification proceedings against those MLAs who joined hands with the BJP following Eknath Shinde's lead.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)