Satara, Jan 20 Shiv Sena chief leader and Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Monday broke his silence over the Maharashtra government’s move to appoint Girish Mahajan (BJP) and Aditi Tatkare (NCP) as the Nashik and Raigad district guardian ministers respectively and later defer the move on Sunday night.
The government issued a notification late on Sunday night staying these appointments after Shiv Sena expressed its strong displeasure and amid Shinde leaving Mumbai for his native village Dare in Satara district.
Shinde however, clarified that he was not upset but claimed that there was nothing wrong in revealing the expectations by Shiv Sena ministers Dadaji Bhuse and Bharat Gogawale of becoming the guardian ministers of Nashik and Raigad districts respectively.
Even though the state government has stayed the appointments of Mahajan and Tatkare till further orders, Shinde has stood firmly with his ministers upholding their move to air their views on the issue.
“Expectation of the guardian minister’s post by Bharat Gogawale is not wrong as he has worked for several years in Raigad district. Nothing is wrong in making demands for the same.
“We three, including myself, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Deputy CM Ajit Pawar will sit together and find a way out,” he said.
He reiterated that the government has stayed the appointments of Nashik and Raigad district guardian ministers saying that the issue will be amicably resolved soon after discussion.
Referring to the news run by TV channels that he was upset over the appointments of district guardian ministers and therefore landed at Dare, Shinde denied these reports.
“I am not upset. I am working here. Whenever I visit my native village, you (media) start running stories that I am upset. I have initiated the development of New Mahabaleshwar and therefore I have to regularly visit my native village. This will help Satara district’s emergence as the tourist district. Being a son of the soil I will take necessary efforts for the same,” he commented.
Meanwhile, state BJP chief and revenue minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule said that the issue will be discussed after CM Fadnavis returns from Davos after attending the World Economic Forum meeting.
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