'He's come by his own effort': CM Uddhav justifies son Aaditya Thackeray's cabinet post

In an interview with Shiv Sena-run Marathi newspaper Saamana, Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Wednesday justified his son Aaditya Thackeray's inclusion the Maharashtra Cabinet as a minister. Thackeray said that even if Aaditya is my son and despite me being a Chief Minister I have no right to create any obstacle in his way. He also mentioned that Aadtiya has been working at his post with full dedication and has achieved the post with his own efforts.

Talking about his son, Uddhav Thackeray said, "Even Balasaheb Thackeray did not take up any post, still he was criticised and talked about, so thinking about it I took this decision. Aaditya is working hard at his post with full dedication. He himself took this decision of joining politics and standing for the assembly election. Even the people from Worli made him win with the majority of their votes. This only means that he has come this far by his own efforts. And if it's his will to further continue as a politician then after being the Chief Minister who am I to stop him from achieving what he wants?"

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On December 30, Aaditya Thackeray was sworn in as a Cabinet Minister and was appointed as the Minister of Environment, Tourism, and Protocol of Maharashtra. Aaditya Thackeray won the Worli seat and became a first-time MLA, and he is one of the youngest ministers in the Maharashtra cabinet. Aaditya Thackeray won against the Nationalist Congress Party’s Suresh Mane by a huge margin of 67,427 votes. He became the first member of the Thackeray family to be formally elected in any legislature. 

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Dynast in MVA

19 out of the 43 ministers in the Maha Vikas Aghadi government belong to political families. While Congress tops the list with 8 out of 12 ministers being dynasts, NCP is not too far behind with 6 ministers having a political background including Deputy CM Ajit Pawar, who is the nephew of the NCP chief. On the other hand, only three of Shiv Sena’s 15 ministers are dynasts. However, Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray and his son Aaditya themselves belong to the clan of Shiv Sena founder Balasaheb Thackeray.  

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