DEPUTY Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Friday got mired in a controversy after he ended his speech at an event in Pune with the slogan ‘Jai Gujarat’.
Addressing a gathering during the the inauguration ceremony of Jairaj Sports and Convention Centre at Kondhwa in Pune, where Union Home Minister Amit Shah was also present, Shinde asked the crowd whether he should deliver a ‘sher-shayari’ in praise of Shah. When the crowd responded positively, Shinde praised Shah and ended his speech with the slogan, ‘Jai Hind, Jai Maharashtra and Jai Gujarat.’
The Shiv Sena (UBT), NCP (S-P) and the Aam Aadmi Party wasted no time in breathing fire at Shinde.
”Shinde has forgotten that he was the Chief Minister of Maharashtra and now is the Deputy Chief Minister. This is because of Amit Shah. Shinde calls himself a prominent leader of Shiv Sena. But it is not Shiv Sena, it is Shah Sena. Shinde is the chief of Shah Sena. The real face of Amit Shah’s duplicate Shiv Sena is out. Can someone shouting ‘Jai Gujarat’ in Maharashtra’s Cabinet be tolerated?” said Rajya Sabha MP and Sena (UBT) spokesperson Sanjay Raut.
”Gujarat is an important state. Balasaheb Thackeray always said that he will say Jai Punjab and Jai Gujarat if he goes to those states. But Shinde is the first Minister and a former Chief Minister who has mouthed ‘Jai Gujarat’ on the sacred terrain of Maharashtra. We have been saying consistently that the process to sell Maharashtra to Gujarat has begun and this is another indication. This is an insult to Maharashtra…Shinde insulted Maharashtra in Pune,” said Raut.
NCP (S-P) spokesperson Clyde Crasto said, ”This proves that why projects meant for Maharashtra kept going to Gujarat when Eknath Shinde was the Chief Minister. Truth is, he was working for ‘Jai’ (victory) of Gujarat. Shinde came to power with support of Marathi Manoos, but today he has betrayed them.”
Mukund Kirdat, spokesperson for the Aam Aadmi Party, said, ”Eknath Shinde has once again shown how desperately he is clinging to power. By raising the slogan of Jai Gujarat in Pune, he has insulted Marathi Manoos and the state of Maharashtra.”
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Shinde hits back with Uddhav’s old video
Meanwhile, while addressing reporters in Mumbai on Friday evening, Shinde dismissed the controversy and launched a sharp counter attack on the Uddhav Thackeray-led Sena UBT, accusing it of hypocrisy and political opportunism.
Citing past instances where Thackeray himself had raised similar slogans in Gujarati events earlier, Shinde asked the Sena UBT leaders to “look in the mirror before pointing fingers at others.”
Shinde said that he said ‘Jai Gujarat’ at the Pune event because most of the people sitting in front of him were Gujaratis. ”These people have for years and generations regarded Maharashtra as their ”karma bhumi.” I praised them for doing good work.”
“In Pune, Gujarati and Marathi communities came together to build that complex (Jairaj Sports and Convention Centre). I said ‘Jai Hind’ for the country, ‘Jai Maharashtra’ for the state, and ‘Jai Gujarat’ out of respect for the people present. This is being twisted for politics,” he said.
Shinde’s office also posted a video on social media showing former Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray in an old clip saying ‘Jai Gujarat.’ Alongside, it shared an image of Aaditya Thackeray with the slogan “Kem Chho Worli” from a previous campaign. The caption read: “They are either frauds or opportunists.”
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Shinde said such slogans had been used before by the Thackerays during outreach efforts to the Gujarati-speaking community, especially ahead of elections. “They tried to woo Gujarati voters with slogans like ‘Jilebi ne Fafda, Uddhav Bhai Aapda’. Now they are questioning us?” asked the Deputy CM.
Insisting that Marathi pride was non-negotiable, Shinde said his government had taken several steps to protect and promote the language and culture. “We secured classical language status for Marathi. For us, Marathi is breath and Hindutva is soul. Those who compromised ideology for power in 2019 are in no position to lecture us about Marathi and Marathi Manoos.”
Shinde also cited the Lok Sabha election campaign of Sena UBT, saying, “When Pakistani flags were waved during their rallies, where was their Marathi pride then? They tried to win on fear-mongering — claiming the Constitution would be scrapped, reservations ended. But elections are won through work, not lies.”
Responding to the Raut’s allegations that his faction of the Shiv Sena was Shah Sena, Shinde said, ”I am heading Shiv Sena, which follows the ideology of Balasaheb Thackeray and Anand Dighe…The people of Maharashtra have accepted this Shiv Sena. We got the symbol. When we contested the elections, we got 75 per cent votes while Uddhav Sena got 20 per cent. I don’t need to show which is the real Shiv Sena.”
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Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis also came to Shinde’s defence. “When Shinde said Jai Gujarat, it does not mean that he loves Gujarat more than Maharashtra. Such narrow-minded thinking doesn’t behove Marathi people.”