Sena Rebel Leaders Letter To Uddhav Thackeray: Why Did You Stop Us From Going To Ayodhya?

In yet another development in the Maharashtra political crisis, on Thursday, June 23, Shiv Sena rebel leader Eknath Shinde posted a letter on his Twitter handle that listed the many complaints that the rebel MLAs have against Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray. 

The letter was reportedly written by Sanjay Shirsat, the party MLA from Aurangabad is addressed to Thackeray and accuses him of being inaccessible to the party MLAs. He highlighted the interference of middlemen who prevented them from meeting him. Further, he said that it was the MLAs who urged Shinde to undertake the decision of the revolt. 

ही आहे आमदारांची भावना... pic.twitter.com/U6FxBzp1QG

— Eknath Shinde - एकनाथ शिंदे (@mieknathshinde) June 23, 2022

Dated June 22, the written in Marathi alleges that Varsha (official residence of the CM) was shut for Sena MLAs due to certain leaders around Thackeray and thus their issues went unheard.

The letter elaborated on how on Wednesday, June 22, Varsha was open to the public. Whilst they are happy to see the crowd there, he added that the bungalow was closed to them for the last two and a half years. It enunciated that to enter the bungalow as an MLA, they would have to convince those who had not even fought elections and became Legislative Council and Rajya Sabha members with their votes. The letter highlighted that the "so-called Chanakyas" were deciding the strategy for the Legislative Council and Rajya Sabha elections.

The letter read that many Shiv Sena MLAs were stopped from going to Ayodhya with Aaditya Thackeray. The rebel MLAs have questioned why the same happened whilst also wondering if Hindutva and Ayodhya Ram Mandir are on the Shiv Sena's agenda.

It goes on to claim that the CM himself called and told many MLAs to not visit Ayodhya. Shirsat penned that many of his colleagues and he had left for Ayodhya from Mumbai airport and had even checked their luggage.

He narrates that just as they were about the board the plane, the Shiv Sena chief called Shinde and told him to not let the MLAs go to Ayodhya. Shinde apprised the MLAs about the same after which they returned the checked luggage at Mumbai Airport and got home.