On Konkan visit, Eknath Shinde throws down gauntlet to Uddhav Thackeray and MVA over border row, investments

Pune

Stressing that his government was an industry-friendly one, Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Friday said that his government was taking several decisions to boost industry in the State by approving investment projects worth ₹70,000 crore.

On his first visit to Ratnagiri and Sindhudurg districts in the Konkan after assuming power in June this year, Mr. Shinde lashed out at Uddhav Thackeray’s rival Shiv Sena faction and the Opposition MVA alliance over the Maharashtra-Karnataka border dispute by underscoring his role in previous agitations.

“I was in jail during this agitation [border dispute]. Where were you people at this time? We have taken decisions so that no one can touch a hair on the head of Marathi-speaking people in border districts,” said Mr. Shinde, addressing a public rally in Ratnagiri in the evening.

With the verdant Konkan belt a vital stronghold of both the Sena factions after Mumbai city, a veritable show of strength was staged by Mr. Shinde’s camp - the Balasahebanchi Shiv Sena - to root out pockets of Mr. Thackeray’s supporters in the Konkan ahead of the crucial local body election in the State.

Throwing down the gauntlet to Mr. Thackeray, Mr. Shinde justified his intra-party ‘revolt’ and subsequent alliance with the BJP which toppled Mr. Thackeray’s erstwhile tripartite MVA coalition government.

Staking claim to be the true keeper of late Sena founder Bal Thackeray’s ‘Hindutva’ ideals, Mr. Shinde, without naming either Uddhav or his son Aaditya Thackeray, said: “Some people [the Thackeray clan] cannot bear that an ordinary person like me has become CM. They think only scions born with a platinum spoon had the right to the top post in the State.”  

The CM further remarked that Mr. Thackeray needed to introspect why so many people had left his side.