With the assembly elections in Maharashtra around the corner, Union Home Minister Amit Shah breezed into Mumbai on Monday morning and briefly met Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar at the airport. Details of the meeting are still undisclosed, but sources informed that Shah assured the BJP allies that Mahayuti coalition partners will be given their due respect in distributing the assembly seats in the upcoming elections slated for November.
Eknath Shinde is the incumbent of the Shiv Sena, and Ajit Pawar is for the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP). Both are key partners of the BJP in the coalition government at the center. Shah, a top BJP brain, was in Mumbai for a two-day stay. He came in for a documentary release on Sunday evening and had some core committee meetings with the state BJP organizers.
Shah on Monday offered puja at the Lalbaugcha Raja Ganesh pandal with CM Shinde, Deputy CM Devendra Fadanavis, and BJP general secretary Vinod Tawde. He also offered ‘puja’ at the idol of Lord Ganesha, which was installed at Fadnavis’s residence. He also performed prayer at the Shinde’s official residence, ‘Varsha.
On the other hand, NCP chief Sharad Pawar visited the same pandal with his family and conveyed his wish to gain strength to fight for farmers and citizens. BJP MLC Pravin Darekar condemned Pawar’s decision to attend the event as politically motivated, suggesting that Pawar was not serious about Hindu sentiments when he had engaged himself before in controversies with the same event.
