'Never demanded Chief Minister’s post', says Eknath Shinde

In a big surprise for many, rebel Shiv Sena leader was appointed as the Chief Minister of Maharashtra after leading a dramatic coup against former CM Uddhav Thackeray, with the support of the BJP. However, Shinde said that he never demanded for the position.

The newly appointed CM also emphasised that ideological differences caused the rebellion.

“I didn't take this decision to become Chief Minister”, Shinde told NDTV.

"I never demanded the Chief Minister's post. It was a matter of ideology, of Balasaheb (Thackeray's) Hindutva. Party workers were very upset with the Maha Vikas Aghadi. MLAs were upset too. They couldn't do any development work because of the internal problems in the coalition," Shinde told the publication.

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Praising the BJP, he further added that by offering him the Chief Minister’s post, the BJP showed its “big heart”. "Everyone thought that the BJP is supporting us to come to power in the state. People were also anticipating that they will take the Chief Minister post. Although they had 115 MLAs, they offered the top post to us despite only 50 MLAs backing us.”

The major political development was followed by another big twist as former CM Devendra Fadnavis was appointed as the deputy CM after he had said that he would not be a part of the new government.

Reacting to Fadnavis accepting the post, he said: "I spoke to him and he said that it was his duty to follow party order as the party has helped him grow from an ordinary worker to a tall leader, gave him the highest post (of Chief Minister)."

Defending Shinde government's move to reverse the MVA regime's decision on the Aarey metro car shed project, Shinde said, "We will take forward all the projects that are pending and people should get the benefit of these projects as soon as possible. It will be the responsibility of this government."