Uddhav Thackeray's BIG warning: 'Attacks on Shiv Sena workers won't be tolerated'

Mumbai: Former Maharashtra chief minister and Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray on Friday warned that attacks on his party workers would not be tolerated. Uddhav was speaking after visiting the party's Byculla office and meeting Sena worker Baban Gaonkar who was attacked by unidentified persons on Thursday night. Importantly, Byculla in South Mumbai is the Assembly constituency of Yamini Jadhav, one of the rebel Sena MLAs who has joined Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde's faction. 

Shinde's rebellion last month, which toppled the Thackeray-led government, has split the party. "Attempts to play with the lives of Shiv Sena workers will not be tolerated. If police cannot bring the culprits to book, Sena workers will do it. Police shouldn't get into politics," Thackeray further said.

Amid all this, Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis met Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) president Raj Thackeray on Friday.

The meeting took place at 'Shivtirtha', Thackeray's residence at Dadar in central Mumbai. The MNS chief had last month undergone a hip replacement surgery at the Lilavati Hospital. This is Fadnavis's first visit to Thackeray after the surgery.

Eknath Shinde, who rebelled against the Shiv Sena leadership along with the majority of party MLAs, took oath as the chief minister on June 30, a day after the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government led by Uddhav Thackeray collapsed. Fadnavis was sworn in as his deputy.

The MNS, which has one MLA, had backed the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the last month's elections to the Rajya Sabha as well as state Legislative Council seats.