Mumbai, March 24 Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray and Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde engaged in a verbal sparring match in the legislative council on Tuesday, as Thackeray was bidding farewell after completing his term.
Besides Thackeray, the council also bid farewell to Deputy Chairperson Neelam Gorhe (Shiv Sena), Amol Mitkari (NCP), Shashikant Shinde (NCP-SP), Rajesh Rathod (Congress), and BJP's Dadarao Keche, Sanjay Kanekar, Ranjeet Sinh Mohite-Patil, and Sandeep Joshi.
Shinde initiated the farewell motion.
He addressed Thackeray as "Uddhav saheb Thackeray." Notably, both Shinde and Thackeray, who parted ways in June 2022 after Shinde rebelled against the latter's leadership, have avoided directly naming each other even while launching attacks.
"There are no full stops in politics," Shinde said, extending his wishes to Thackeray.
However, while talking about Gorhe, Shinde emphasized that she did not come from a privileged background, apparently drawing a contrast with Uddhav Thackeray, who inherited the party leadership from his father, Sena founder Bal Thackeray.
Both Shinde and Neelam Gorhe have worked under the leadership of Bal Thackeray.
In his speech, Uddhav Thackeray referred to the case of self-proclaimed godman Ashok Kharat, who was arrested for raping a woman under the pretext of performing rituals.
"Cows are being slaughtered for selfish reasons," he said cryptically.
Shinde, after becoming chief minister in 2022 by toppling the Thackeray-led government, had visited a temple built by Kharat in Nashik district, and their photos went viral after Kharat's recent arrest.
Leaders of the Sena (UBT) have alleged in the past that when Shinde and MLAs of his faction visited Assam after the 2022 Shiv Sena split, cows were sacrificed at a temple in Guwahati.