'Uddhav Thackeray Offered Me Chief Minister Post In 2022': Eknath Shinde

Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Thursday claimed that Uddhav Thackeray had reached out to him and offered the Chief Minister's post after his rebellion plunged the Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government in the state in a crisis in 2022.

He also termed as correct the claim made by deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis that Thackeray, then Chief Minister, had contacted the BJP leader too and offered the top post.

The Thackeray government collapsed in June 2022 after Mr Shinde and the majority of Shiv Sena MLAs rebelled against the party leadership.

"There is truth to the claim as they made these efforts when we decided to leave. They (Thackeray and his associates) also called me and offered the Chief Minister's post, but I had not taken the decision to be the chief minister then. We left because they had deviated from Shiv Sena supremo late Balasaheb Thackeray's ideology," Mr Shinde told reporters.

He was replying to a question about Mr Fadnavis's claim that Uddhav Thackeray had offered him the Chief Minister's post after Shinde rebelled and the MVA government was about to fall. Mr Thackeray had parted ways with the BJP earlier in 2019 and formed government with the NCP and Congress.

"They also made efforts in Delhi, saying the entire Shiv Sena will be with them (BJP) and asked BJP leaders not to take only some people (i.e., Shinde and his supporters) in their fold. But by then, 50 people (MLAs) were already with me. What Devendra ji has said has truth to it," Mr Shinde said.

Asked for comment, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sachin Ahir questioned the time chosen by Mr Shinde and Mr Fadnavis to make these claims.

"They are making such statements after two years only to create confusion," he said.

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