Over the last few hours, this correspondent spoke to four Shiv Sena MLAs, including two from the Mumbai-Thane belt, one from North Maharashtra, and one from Marathwada.
https://www.rediff.com/news/special/why-shindes-ministers-are-angry-with-bjp-fadnavis/20251119.htm
What emerged were unfiltered arguments, humiliation-laced hurt, and a profound sense of betrayal. And the proverbial wheel seems to have come the full circle.
The BJP is finishing us'
"We carried them to power. We took the heat (from the SS [UBT]), we stood up in the hot sun. Now they behave as if we are expendable," said MLA 1.
"They have put their men everywhere -- even the departments we used to control are now run by outsiders," added MLA 2.
What the MLAs described was not a single betrayal but an institutional overtaking of power around two pillars in particular: A retired-but-omnipresent bureaucrat, Shrikar Pardeshi, and a rising set of BJP operatives and businessmen whose influence goes beyond party structures.
19/11/2025