Mumbai: Maharashtra BJP president Chandrashekhar Bawankule on Saturday dismissed the reports of rift between chief minister Devendra Fadnavis and deputy chief minister Eknath Shinde. He said Mr. Shinde is committed to Hindutva and he always works to strengthen ‘Mahayuti’ alliance. Speculation has been rife since Mr. Shinde had to relinquish the chief minister’s post for Mr. Fadnavis after the ‘Mahayuti’ alliance’s landslide victory in the 2024 Assembly election. The election was fought under Mr. Shinde’s leadership, but he had to step down from the CM’s post even after the spectacular victory. The BJP leader said that there is no rift in the Mahayuti alliance, but the opposition parties are trying to paint such a picture. “Eknath Shinde and Ajit Pawar are mature leaders in the government led by chief minister Fadnavis. The opposition leaders are trying to create a fake narrative that there are differences among the Mahayuti leaders over some projects and other issues. Our focus is on fulfilling the promises we made to the people,” he said.Maharashtra industries minister Uday Samant of Shiv Sena called on MNS president Raj Thackeray on Saturday at his residence in Mumbai. The meeting was seen as part of Mr. Shinde’s party’s efforts to gather support from other leaders. However, Mr. Bawankule downplayed the speculation surrounding the meeting.“Such meetings keep taking place. Raj Thackeray has friendly ties with everyone. I also have friendly ties with him. There is no need to read anything more about the meeting,” Mr. Bawankule said. Recently, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had met the MNS chief. Speculation is rife that the BJP is trying to woo Maharashtra Navnirman Sena for the upcoming Mumbai civic polls to oust Shiv Sena (UBT) from the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation and Mr. Shinde is also attempting the same. The BJP and Shiv Sena are likely to contest the BMC election separately.Mr. Samant said that his meeting with the MNS chief was not political. “We did not discuss any alliance possibilities. I met him only to thank him for attending the World Marathi Conference in Pune,” the Shiv Sena leader said.
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