‘Political childishness’: Minister Uday Samant as Sanjay Raut, Vijay Wadettiwar say he may split Shinde Sena

Samant and Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis are in Davos, Switzerland, for the World Economic Forum that began Monday.

“It seems that Uday Samant is being groomed as a possible replacement for Shinde. He has gone to Davos with him (CM Fadnavis). Now there is a discord in the alliance over the guardian ministership. If Shinde cannot control his ministers, how can he lead,” Raut said.

Speaking in Nagpur, Wadettiwar said, without naming anyone, “Eknath Shinde’s situation is not good in the current political scenario. It seems he may be sidelined. I wonder if Shinde’s political utility is over. Shindeji was brought in by pushing out Uddhav ji (Thackeray).”

In a veiled attack on the BJP, Wadettiwar claimed a political situation may shape up in Maharashtra with the possibility of a third “Uday” (rise) of Shiv Sena.

“One Uday (Samant) is sailing in both boats and maintaining very good relations (with both sides),” he claimed.
Wadettiwar and Raut claimed that Samant was planning to join hands with the BJP when Shinde was delaying the government formation in December.

Denying the claims, Samant said in a video statement released from Switzerland, “I am in Zurich. After landing, I came to know about the statements by Raut about me. It is political childishness. I was involved in the uprising led by Deputy Chief Minister Shinde in Shiv Sena. That is why I got the post of industries minister twice. I can never forget the efforts made by Shinde for me.”

Adding that his relationship with Shinde is beyond politics, Samant said, “No such attempt of creating differences between us will be successful.”