Eknath Shinde
Credit: PTI Photo
Mumbai: In a setback to Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, his close aide Ajay Ashar was dropped from MITRA, a state government thinktank on the lines of NITI Aayog.
The move comes amid buzz of tension between Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and his deputy Shinde.
Ashar, a real estate developer who was appointed when Shinde headed the government, was one of the two deputy chairpersons along with Rajesh Kshirsagar of Maharashtra Institution for Transformation (MITRA).
A government resolution dated February 6 informed that senior NCP leader and MLA Dilip Walse Patil and BJP MLA Rana Jagjitsinh Patil have been appointed as vice chairpersons, while Kshirsagar has been retained.
Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut welcomed the state government's move to rejig its thinktank and replace Shinde's aide, which is being seen as a move to curtail the latter's influence.
"Ajay Ashar is a real estate developer and he is a close aide of Shinde. If Devendra ji has taken this stand, then we welcome it," Raut said during the day.
Incidentally, Raut had last week lauded Fadnavis for taking stern steps to instil discipline in governance.