Uddhav Thackeray could not quell rumblings within Shiv Sena, resigned without fight:…

MUMBAI: In the revised edition of his autobiography released on Tuesday, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Sharad Pawar commented on the resignation of Uddhav Thackeray as the chief minister of Maharashtra.
According to Pawar, Thackeray failed to resolve the discontent within his own party and stepped down without a fight. Pawar also observed a lack of political finesse in Thackeray, a quality that is crucial for a chief minister.
Furthermore, Pawar emphasized that the formation of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), which includes the Congress, NCP, and Shiv Sena, was not just a power play but also a robust response to the Bharatiya Janata Party’s tendency to marginalize other political parties by any means necessary.
It was expected that there would be attempts to destabilize the MVA government, but “we did not anticipate that there would be a storm within the Shiv Sena due to Uddhav Thackeray becoming chief minister,” he said.
“The Sena leadership fell short in quelling this outburst of discontent,” the veteran politician wrote.
“As Uddhav resigned without putting up a fight (after Eknath Shinde and other Sena MLAs rebelled against him in June 2022), the MVA’s stint in power came to an end,” he further said.
Noting that Thackeray’s health became a constraint for him, the NCP leader noted that a chief minister needs “political acumen” and must remain well-informed about political goings-on, and “we all felt that these things were lacking.”
He attributed it to Thackeray’s inexperience.
While the middle class liked Thackeray’s interaction with the people through Facebook Live during the COVID-19 pandemic, it was difficult to fathom why he chose to visit the Mantralaya, the government’s headquarters, only twice during this period, Pawar wrote.
Pawar’s revised Marathi autobiography ‘Lok Maze Sangati’ (People Accompany Me) touches upon events post 2015 when the first edition of the book was published.
(With inputs from PTI)