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Former Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Tuesday visited the new office allotted to his faction of the Shiv Sena in the Legislative Assembly complex in Nagpur and consoled staffers loyal to him who broke down when asked to vacate the old office a day earlier by the rival camp.
Asked about the MLAs of the rival faction led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde telling the staffers, including two women, to vacate the old party office on Monday, Thackeray said he consoled the employees who are attached to the Shiv Sena Bhavan Mumbai and come to Nagpur during the winter session of the state legislature to help in managing legislative work.
“This is called loyalty. These employees have been working for the Sena for the past thirty years. Tears rolled down from their eyes today,” he said. The Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) leader, who was accompanied by his MLA-son and former minister Aaditya Thackeray, garlanded a bust of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj in the office.
The Balasahebanchi Shiv Sena faction, led by Chief Minister Shinde, took possession of the existing office of the Shiv Sena in the Nagpur Legislative Assembly complex on Monday, the first day of the winter session.
The MLAs of the faction led by Thackeray were allotted another office in the premises, a Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) leader had said.
Workers of both factions of the party were engaged in a war of words on Monday afternoon over possession of the office which had been used by the Shiv Sena for three decades.
Portraits of Uddhav Thackeray and his son Aaditya were removed from the office by the Shinde faction workers, who put up a photo of the CM’s political mentor late Anand Dighe.
Employees of the Shinde-led faction asked the existing staffers, including two women, working for the Shiv Sena (UBT) to shift to the new office, a Thackeray camp leader had claimed. Some of the existing staffers at the old Sena office broke down when asked to vacate the place.
Shiv Sena (UBT) leader and Mumbai MLA Ravindra Waikar on Monday said, “These employees have done the legislative work of all Shiv Sena MLAs, including Eknath Shinde, for the past 30 years. Now, CM Shinde has shown them the door.”
