KOLHAPUR: Eknath Shinde on Tuesday downplayed a row over an advertisement claiming a survey had shown him to be the more preferred choice for the CM’s post than his deputy Devendra Fadnavis, as the latter skipped – citing health reasons – a government event that was to be addressed by both.
Shinde said the advertisement wasn’t issued by government and that the tag of ‘popular CM’ was “not my own credit but also that of Fadnavis and other ministers”. He said, “The survey has shown that both Devendra ji and I enjoy people’s backing.”
Shinde Sena member Dipak Kesarkar said Fadnavis had some “ear-related problem and doctors had advised him to not travel by flight”. He also said the two parties (BJP and Sena led by Shinde) didn’t have any differences. “There is no competition to take credit. It is very evident who is trying to create a split (between the two parties). Both the CM and the deputy CM are working like brothers,” he said.
When asked about the absence of Shiv Sena founder late Bal Thackeray’s photograph in the advertisement, Shinde didn’t directly respond. Thackeray’s absence in the advertisement prompted Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut to say, “Earlier, it was Balasaheb’s Shiv Sena. But now the advertisement has cleared the air. It has become Modi-(Amit) Shah’s Shiv Sena.”