Lokmat News Network
Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar:
An FIR was registered on Friday against Dr Nilesh Rane, MLA from the Shinde Sena in the Konkan region. Even after more than 10 hours had passed since the case was filed, deputy chief minister Eknath Shinde avoided commenting on the issue when asked by reporters on Saturday, simply stating that he would ‘gather information’ about it.
Shinde was staying overnight in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar on Friday before heading to Amravati for campaign rallies for the municipal council elections. On Saturday morning, he answered three questions from journalists in just one minute and six seconds before leaving for his campaign tour.
When reporters drew his attention to the strong opposition in Nashik over the cutting of trees and the involvement of actor Sayaji Shinde in the protest, he replied, “I will gather information on this. We always undertake environment-friendly projects. The government’s policy is to maintain ecological balance, which can be seen in several of our projects. I will get further details.”
When asked about the FIR registered against Nilesh Rane, Deputy CM Shinde again avoided elaboration and responded that he would ‘look into the matter.’
During election campaigning, deputy CM Ajit Pawar has been warning voters that funds will not be allocated if they do not vote for him. Criticising Pawar, NCP state president Shashikant Shinde questioned whether the funds were his father’s property. When asked about this comment, Eknath Shinde said, “In reality, these funds, the state treasury, belong to the people of the state. We are merely trustees. Hence, no one should misinterpret this.”