India, June 30 -- Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray on Monday claimed that Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis was being kept in check by the BJP central leadership. Thackeray levelled the allegation after six of his nine party MPs switched over to the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena, an alliance partner of the BJP-led Mahayuti government in Maharashtra.

During a tour to Shirdi, the Lok Sabha constituency represented by Bhausaheb Wakchaure, one of the six MPs who defected, Thackeray alleged that Shinde had received a "contract to corner Fadnavis". He claimed the defections were part of a political race between Union home minister Amit Shah and Fadnavis for the post of prime minister in a post-Modi contest.

"Has the RSS become ...