'Bal Thackeray Follower, Won't Cheat to Power': Eknath Shinde Amid Sena Turmoil

Reacting to the sacking as chief whip, Eknath Shinde termed himself a true Shiv Sainik.

Senior Shiv Sena leader and Cabinet minister Eknath Shinde was on Tuesday, 21 June, sacked as the legislative party leader after he led a rebellion, which has seen at least 20 MLAs holed up at a hotel in Surat.

Reacting to the sacking, Shinde termed himself a true Shiv Sainik and said that as a follower of Bal Thackeray, he had never been taught to cheat his way to power.

"We are true Shiv Sainiks and followers of Bal Thackeray. He taught us lessons of Hindutva. The ideology of Bal Thackeray and the teachings of Dharamveer Anand Dighe have never taught us to cheat our way to power," he wrote in a tweet in Marathi.

आम्ही बाळासाहेबांचे कट्टर शिवसैनिक आहोत... बाळासाहेबांनी आम्हाला हिंदुत्वाची शिकवण दिली आहे.. बाळासाहेबांचे विचार आणि धर्मवीर आनंद दिघे साहेबांची शिकवण यांच्याबाबत आम्ही सत्तेसाठी कधीही प्रतारणा केली नाही आणि करणार नाही

— Eknath Shinde - एकनाथ शिंदे (@mieknathshinde) June 21, 2022