Days after Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde came under opposition attack for his 'Jai Gujarat' slogan at the event, his party MP Pratap Jadhav faces flak for calling Mumbai as former capital of Gujarat. Speaking to reporters in Dharashiv district of Maharashtra on Sunday, Jadhav, Union Minister of State for Health, told reporters, "There is no need to indulge in politics over such issues. Gujarat is our neighbouring state. It is not in Pakistan."
Sena leader Jadhav said Mumbai was also the capital of Gujarat during the Samyukta Maharashtra movement. Shiv Sena UBT leader and Rajya Sabha member Priyanka Chaturvedi criticised Jadhav's remarks. "This man is MoS. He betrayed his own party leadership for pandas choke. This man is also part of the Jai Gujarat party from Maharashtra," Chaturvedi said.
Also Read | Eknath Shinde Ends Speech With 'Jai Gujarat' in Presence of Union Home Minister Amit Shah in Pune (Watch).
Shiv Sena (UBT) MLA Aaditya Thackeray said Jadhav’s remarks show hatred for Maharashtra. Shinde, speaking at an event in Pune last week, lauded Union Home Minister Amit Shah and ended his speech with this sequence of slogans: “Jai Hind, Jai Maharashtra, Jai Gujarat.”
While he received flak from opposition members who accused him of being “greedy for power” because Amit Shah and PM Narendra Modi belong to Gujarat, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis defended Shinde, saying, "Just because Shinde said ‘Jai Gujarat’, it doesn’t mean that Shinde loves Gujarat more than Maharashtra.”