Eknath Shinde's big charge: 'Previous MVA government wanted to jail BJP leaders'

Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Tuesday claimed that he was asked by the then Uddhav Thackeray-led state government to initiate a probe against BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis in connection with the Mumbai Metro rail project.

Speaking at a gathering in Mumbai's Bhandup for Mahayuti candidate from Mumbai North East, Shinde said that while he was serving as the Urban Development Minister in the Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government, he was asked to initiate a probe into the Rs 10,000 crore Mumbai Metro rail project with an aim to frame Fadnavis.

"They (MVA) stopped Mumbai metro phase 3 work and asked for an inquiry into Rs 10,000 crore spent during Fadnavis's tenure as Chief Minister. I told them nothing will come out of it. It will only delay and cause cost escalation. They wanted to put five leaders in prison in which Fadnavis's name was also there," Shinde alleged.

Shinde further claimed that after the 2019 Maharashtra Assembly poll results, he advised Thackeray about continuing the coalition with the BJP, but the latter refused.

"They wanted 20-25 MLAs from BJP to join MVA. I didn't make the wrong decision by coming out of MVA. They ditched the BJP in 2019. After the result, they said all the doors were open. Five times I explained to him (Uddhav Thackeray) that we should go with BJP. He asked if BJP would remove Kirit Somaiya and Narayan Rane from the party," Shinde added.

Will look into Lok Sabha performance for giving tickets: Shinde

Asking his party workers and office bearers to campaign for the BJP candidates with full force, Shinde said that he would analyse the performance of leaders based on the votes the party gets in different areas to decide on tickets in the upcoming civic body polls. Shinde said that he would promote the party leaders who ensure good party performance in their areas in the Lok Sabha polls.

"Due to electronic voting machines (EVMs), we get to know how many votes we got in which area. After the Lok Sabha elections, there is a civic body election. In areas where there was a lead, those office bearers and workers would get tickets. It's the same for MLAs. I will give promotion to those who do well in this election," Shinde said.

Polling for 11 of the 48 Lok Sabha seats in Maharashtra will be held on Tuesday with the spotlight firmly on the high-stakes battle in Baramati.

Polling in these constituencies, spread across western Maharashtra, Konkan and Marathwada regions, will begin at 7 am and end at 6 pm at more than 23,000 polling centres set up for the third phase of the general elections.

The seats where polling will take place on May 7 are Baramati, Raigad, Osmanabad, Latur (SC), Solapur, Madha, Sangli, Satara, Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg, Kolhapur and Hatkanangale.

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