Shinde 'cried' at Matoshree fearing jail: Thackeray; Raut backs claim

MUMBAI: Uddhav Thackeray's son and former Maharashtra Minister Aaditya Thackeray claimed that Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, before joining hands with Bharatiya Janata Party last year, "cried" at Matoshree fearing being jailed by the investigative agencies "if he did not ally with BJP".

It is pertinent to mention that Eknath Shinde led a rebellion with over 40 MLAs in June last year which ultimately toppled the Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi government in Maharashtra.

Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut further certified Aaditya Thackeray's claims, saying that "it is correct" and that Shinde had told him the same thing.

"Eknath Shinde cried after coming to Matoshree and said - If he does not go with BJP, he will be put in jail," Thackeray had claimed on April 11. Raut also claimed that fear of Eknath Shinde being jailed was "clearly visible" in his "mind and heart".

"This is 100 per cent correct! Eknath Shinde had also said this after coming to me. I tried to make him (Shinde) understand.. But the fear of jail was clearly visible in his mind and heart. Aaditya is right," Raut tweeted.

Speaking to the reporters, the Uddhav Thackeray faction leader said that Eknath Shinde had told him that he did not want to go to jail and asked him to break the alliance with the Congress and NCP.

"What Aaditya Thackeray is saying is completely true, the present Chief Minister (Eknath Shinde) also said the same after coming to my house that I do not want to go to jail, you break this alliance. ...There is a pressure system going on all over the country but we need not fear. He (CM Eknath Shinde) said no, I am afraid that I will be put in jail, he was afraid of going to jail," Raut claimed. Retorting to Thackeray's claims, Maharashtra Minister Deepak Kesarkar alleged that Aaditya Thackeray has a "professional team that teaches him how to lie".

"There is a team that teaches him to lie. This is what happens in politics," he said. BJP leader Narayan Rane questioned Aaditya Thackeray to reveal when did Shinde visit Matoshree.

"I will not speak on that. He says anything. There is childishness in him. When did Shinde go? When did he cry? In which year did he cry? This is all nonsense," he said.