Maha cash-video row: Thackeray says Fadnavis running a ‘shielding portfolio’

Shiv Sena (UBT) chief and former Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray on Thursday launched a sharp attack on current chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, accusing him of protecting “corrupt” ministers in his cabinet and questioning why the government has still not appointed leaders of opposition in either House of the state legislature.

Addressing journalists at his party office in the Vidhan Bhavan complex in Nagpur, where the winter session of the legislature is under way, Thackeray said allegations of wrongdoing against members of the ruling coalition were emerging “almost daily”, yet the chief minister continued to look the other way.

“Videos of their leaders with bundles of notes are coming out. Even then the chief minister is not taking cognizance of the issue,” he remarked, referring to recent clips circulating online.

The former chief minister, who once shared power with the BJP before the political rupture of 2022, said Fadnavis was no longer the leader he used to know. “I would say the chief minister should start a ‘shielding portfolio’ and take charge of it. I feel pity for the chief minister. What you were (in the past) and what you have become now,” he said.

His comments followed a row triggered earlier this week when Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Ambadas Danve shared videos on social media purportedly showing an MLA from the rival Shiv Sena faction on a video call with a man surrounded by stacks of cash. Danve alleged the money belonged to legislators from the ruling alliance.

However, Shiv Sena minister Sanjay Shirsat dismissed the footage as doctored and “AI-generated”. A day later, Peasants and Workers Party leader Chitralekha Patil levelled a similar cash-related accusation against another Shiv Sena minister, adding to the political turmoil.

Thackeray also criticised the government for dragging its feet on appointing leaders of opposition in both the Assembly and the Council. He pointed out that the Shiv Sena (UBT) had submitted the name of MLA Bhaskar Jadhav for the Assembly LoP position months ago, but the proposal had seen “no forward movement”. If the Mahayuti administration could accommodate “two deputy chief ministers”, he asked, what explained its reluctance to fill the LoP posts?

On agrarian issues, Thackeray accused the government of misleading farmers over the relief package announced after excessive rains. He said Union agriculture minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan had publicly stated last month that his ministry had received no proposal from Maharashtra seeking assistance for rain-affected farmers. Only afterwards, he noted, did the state hurriedly forward a request for aid to the Centre in late November.

“We want to ask what proposal the state government has sent to the Centre, how much relief amount it has demanded and who will benefit from it. Details of the proposal should be tabled in the legislature. People should know whether the Central government will help the state,” he said.

Thackeray concluded by insisting that farmers were still being denied crop insurance payouts and that the government should prioritise agricultural distress during the ongoing session, rather than deflecting public attention.

With PTI inputs