Tare had warned me about Shinde, should have listened to him: Uddhav Thackeray

Thane, Oct 11 (PTI) Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray on Saturday said here that late party leader Anant Tare had warned him about Eknath Shinde way back in 2014, and he should have taken it seriously.

Speaking at the launch of a book on Tare, a three-time Thane mayor, Thackeray said the Shiv Sena contested the 2014 Maharashtra assembly elections independently because the BJP, its then ally, was planning to "destroy" it.

Tare had told him then that "this man" would betray him one day, Thackeray said without naming Shinde, now Maharashtra deputy Chief Minister.

"That's what happened. Sometimes, some people walk around us wearing masks of loyalty and we don't even realise it," he said, adding that had he heeded Tare's advice then, he would not have faced the present situation.

Shinde rebelled against Thackeray's leadership and brought down the Maharashtra government headed by him in June 2022. The Shiv Sena faction headed by Shinde then joined hands with the BJP and he became chief minister.

Thackeray, meanwhile, also said that Thane was once a "city of Shiv Sainiks" but now it has become a "city of contractors." Notably, the city is considered to be Shinde's bastion.

"Money has been spent in Thane, but where is development? The city's treasury has been looted. We will soon take out a protest march against those who are looting the treasuries of Mumbai, Thane and the state," Thackeray announced. PTI COR KRK