Yavatmal::

Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray on Sunday said had the BJP respected the “decision” taken before the 2019 Maharashtra polls on sharing of the chief ministerial post, its workers would not have required to carry the “carpets” of other parties now.

Addressing a press conference in Yavatmal during his tour of Maharashtra’s Vidarbha region, Mr Thackeray reiterated his claim that sharing of the Chief Ministerial post was “decided” between him and senior BJP leader Amit Shah before the 2019 state Assembly elections.

Mr Thackeray also said he is waiting to see how the BJP handles its new “riff-raffs”. Last week, Ajit Pawar led a split in the Nationalist Congress Party and along with eight other NCP MLAs joined the Eknath Shinde-BJP government in Maharashtra.

The former Chief Minister also said he would raise the issues concerning farmers during his Vidarbha tour.

On Sunday, Mr Thackeray reiterated his claim of a “decision” between him and Union minister Amit Shah before the 2019 polls. It was decided the Shiv Sena and the BJP will have its chief minister for two-and-a-half years each, he said.

“Today, the BJP and Shiv Sena Chief Ministers would have completed their tenure. If that had been done, the old BJP workers would have not required to pick up the carpets of other parties,” he said.

After the 2019 Maharashtra Assembly polls, Mr Thackeray snapped ties with long-term ally BJP over the issue of sharing the chief minister post. He then formed the Maha Vikas Aghadi government, comprising the Shiv Sena (then undivided), NCP and Congress.

In June last year, a revolt led by Mr Shinde led to the collapse of the MVA government and a split in the Shiv Sena. Mr Shinde later became the Chief Minister with the BJP’s support.

On July 2 this year, NCP’s Ajit Pawar led a split in the Sharad Pawar-led party and joined the Eknath Shinde government as Deputy Chief Minister. Eight other NCP leaders were also sworn in as ministers in the state cabinet.

Maharashtra Legislative Assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar said on Saturday that notices have been issued to 40 MLAs of Chief Minister Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena and 14 of the Uddhav Thackeray faction, including his son Aaditya Thackeray, seeking their replies on disqualification petitions against them.

These legislators have been given seven days to file their reply, he said.

The Shiv Sena (UBT) recently approached the Supreme Court seeking direction to the Assembly Speaker to hear the disqualification petitions expeditiously.

On May 11, the top court had ruled that Eknath Shinde will continue to be the chief minister of Maharashtra. It cannot reinstate the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) coalition government headed by Uddhav Thackeray as the Sena leader chose to resign without facing a floor test in the wake of Shinde’s rebellion, the court said.

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