Amid tensions between Maharashtra’s ruling allies — the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena and the BJP — over a recent advertisement, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Thursday said there was “no possibility of any rift” between himself and Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis. The Sena-BJP government was formed on the firm basis of ideology, not for the sake of petty power or political posts, he said.
Sharing the stage for the first time since the friction over the advertisement which allegedly showed Mr. Shinde as being ‘more preferred’ as Chief Minister over Mr. Fadnavis, the two leaders were seen sharing much bonhomie during a government programme in Palghar on Thursday.
“My friendship with Devendra ji is not just of the present moment, but has been so for the last 15-20 years when we were both legislators… Our bonding is as firm as Fevicol. This government was not formed for selfish political gains but on a firm ideology,” said Mr. Shinde, whose intra-party revolt last year, which was aided by the BJP, had toppled Uddhav Thackeray’s tripartite Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government.
In his address, Mr. Shinde made it a point to laud Mr. Fadnavis’ tenure as previous Chief Minister (2014-19) while profusely praising his Deputy Chief Minister’s “experience” as proving beneficial in guiding the State towards development.
‘Rapid progress’
“The Deputy Chief Minister goes to Delhi and gets projects sanctioned swiftly. This is the reason behind Maharashtra’s rapid progress. This has taken the wind off the Opposition’s [MVA’s] sails… This ‘Yuti’ [alliance] is not for power and position but for upholding the ideals of [the late Sena founder] Bal Thackeray and [the late BJP stalwart] Atal Bihari Vajpayee,” said the Maharashtra Chief Minister.
Taking aim at Mr. Uddhav Thackeray’s erstwhile MVA government, Mr. Shinde alleged it only proclaimed farm loan waivers and incentives but never actually gave farmers anything while halting the pace of development works in the State.
“The Nagpur-Mumbai Samruddhi Expressway was Mr. Fadnavis’ dream and it was our good fortune that we both could complete it after our government came to power. The previous [MVA] government had put speed-breakers over several projects. We removed them all and gave impetus to several important projects,” Mr. Shinde said, stating that the current government was “a double engine government” that was being helped along by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah.
Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Fadnavis said the present government was not so “fragile” as to get affected by a mere advertisement or a remark made by someone.
“This is not like the previous [Uddhav Thackeray-led MVA] where leaders would be at each other’s throats on who would speak first. We [Shiv Sena-BJP] have been travelling for the last 25 years. Our bond has grown only stronger since the past year [after Mr. Shinde’s coup],” said Mr. Fadnavis.
The Deputy Chief Minister, in a jibe at his opponents, said none should worry about Mr. Shinde and his journey together.
‘Strong bond’
“It will remain so in the future as well because we did not form the government for positions and power. When we alighted from our helicopter for today’s function, a mediaperson asked me how I felt about travelling together with Mr. Shinde… We have been travelling for the last 25 years, now our bond has grown only stronger since the past year.. None should worry about our journey together. It will remain so in the future as well because we did not form the government for positions and power,” said Mr. Fadnavis.
On Tuesday, cracks had developed between the two ‘Mahayuti’ (grand alliance) partners after a newspaper advertisement placed by the Shinde-led Sena cited a survey which claimed Mr. Shinde was more preferred as the Chief Minister than Mr. Fadnavis. The advertisement only featured Mr. Shinde with Mr. Modi, conspicuously omitting Mr. Fadnavis’ picture.
The advertisement coincided with Mr. Fadnavis cancelling a programme in Kolhapur citing ‘medical reasons’ on June 13 in which the Deputy Chief Minister was supposed to accompany Mr. Shinde.
Despite the Shinde camp’s attempt at pacifying the BJP, the party’s Maharashtra chief Chandrashekhar Bawankule said Tuesday’s advertisement had upset a section of the BJP cadre who naturally rooted for Mr. Fadnavis to be Chief Minister given that the latter had already occupied the top post in the past. The Shinde camp went in damage control mode on Wednesday to placate the BJP by issuing another advertisement jointly featuring Mr. Shinde and Mr. Fadnavis as the face of the State’s development.
