Maharashtra CM Eknath Shinde.
Credit: PTI Photo
In a scathing attack on Uddhav Thackeray, Maharashtra chief minister Eknath Shinde on Sunday said that people who were running the state “online” have been brought to “direct line”.
According to him, the BJP-Shiv Sena-NCP government is growing stronger by the day. "The MahaYuti (NDA in Maharashtra) government is bringing in a change in the lives of common people," he said.
“Our mission is to develop the state and pursue the good work of prime minister Narendra Modi,” Shinde said addressing the ‘shasan aplya dari’ (government at your doorstep) event at Parbhani in the Marathwada region of the state.
Shinde was accompanied by two deputy chief ministers - Devendra Fadnavis of the BJP and Ajit Pawar of the NCP, MPs, MLAs and MLCs of the Marathwada region.
The trio of Shinde, Fadnavis and Pawar hailed Modi for how he is leading the "transformation of the country" and that Chandrayaan-3 is yet another "example of the leadership of the Prime Minister".
Referring to Thackeray, the chief minister said, "You have seen some people who were running the state online. They have been brought to the direct line…”.
This was an apparent reference to the June-July 2022 toppling of the Thackeray-headed Maha Vikas Aghadi government. "For a year, me and Devendra ji worked for the people…there were claims that our government would collapse, but in a year’s time we emerged stronger when Ajit dada joined the government for the development of the state,” Shinde said.
“We would take the ‘vikas ki Ganga’ to all parts of the state,” he said amid thunderous applause.
Shinde also lauded Fadnavis for the successful visit to Japan, during which the latter attracted investments for Maharashtra and also received the honorary doctorate from Koyasan University in Japan for the Jalyukt Shivar Abhiyan, a comprehensive multi-agency water conservation project. He is the first Indian to receive such an honour from the prestigious institution that started as a small school in 1886.
Shinde said that Ajit Pawar, who was earlier the Leader of Opposition and his colleague in MVA, has expressed faith in the leadership of Modi.