Shiv Sena (UBT) Chief Uddhav Thackeray speaks during the Senior Shiv Sainik Chamber Anniversary Celebration at Shri Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Theatre, Dadar, in Mumbai on November 20, 2025.
| Photo Credit: ANI
Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray on Thursday (November 20, 2025) said Mahayuti partners are fighting among themselves and described Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde’s visit to New Delhi as an act of helplessness. Addressing the Shikshak Sena in Mumbai, Mr. Thackeray said, “They have started fighting among themselves. Someone has gone to Delhi to complain that he has been beaten up. Why this helplessness?”
He also criticised the ruling alliance over pre-poll sops, and said, “Revdi has become a norm now. What others give is revdi and what we do is favour. This is what today’s politics is all about.”
The remarks came after most Shiv Sena Ministers boycotted the weekly Cabinet meeting earlier this week over alleged poaching of its leaders by the BJP. A truce was reached following talks between Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Mr. Shinde, where it was decided that Mahayuti partners would not poach each other’s members. Mr. Shinde later met Union Home Minister Amit Shah in Delhi.
NCP (Sharad Pawar) spokesperson Clyde Crasto said on X that the BJP’s reprimand of Mr. Shinde’s Ministers appeared “well-planned” and indicated the party was “done with using the Shinde-led Sena.”
Posting a photo of Mr. Shinde talking to Mr. Shah, he wrote, “Mr. Devendra Fadnavis is an obedient leader of the BJP and he will never do anything without the consent of his senior leadership, so if he is pulling up the Shinde Sena leaders and overlooking Mr. Eknath Shinde then all this seems well planned and well played out. Therefore, Eknath Shinde is going to Delhi and meeting Mr. Amit Shah will not make any difference.”
The post further said, “It is very evident now that the BJP is done using the Shinde Sena. Mr. Eknath Shinde must wake up and smell the coffee, read the writing on the wall, and read between the lines before he is asked to exit disrespectfully.”
In a separate development, BJP leader Ashish Shelar said his party will not enter into any alliance with the NCP faction led by Nawab Malik for the civic polls. “We cannot endorse Nawab Malik, and this was our stand in the Assembly elections last year. We are stuck to it now, and we will have the same stand in the future as well. It is not about Malik as a person, but the serious charges he is facing,” Mr. Shelar told reporters.
His comments came days after a court framed charges against Mr. Malik in a money laundering case linked to the Dawood Ibrahim gang.
NCP (SP) leader Supriya Sule said her party will hold talks with Uddhav Thackeray and Congress for a possible alliance under the Maha Vikas Aghadi or INDIA bloc. “We want to take everyone along. A clear picture will emerge next week,” she told reporters, adding that discussions with Congress are scheduled soon.
Published – November 21, 2025 05:24 am IST
