Devendra Fadnavis is shadow chief minister: Congress' Harshavardhan Sapkal

In a strong criticism, the Congress in Maharashtra on Thursday described Union Home Minister Amit Shah as the “real Chief Minister” and referred to Devendra Fadnavis as the “shadow Chief Minister”.

“All all important issues vis-a-vis Maharashtra, it is Shah who takes the call,” Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee President Harshavardhan Sapkal told reporters on Thursday. 

“A few days ago Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar met Shah after his son Parth Pawar’s name got embroiled in a land scam. Now Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde has met Shah after his local leaders were poached by the BJP,” he said. 

Sapkal said that the Shiv Sena and NCP have become allies for the BJP for the sake of power and convenience. 

Last week, Pawar, who is the NCP President, met Shah amid demands of his resignation and FIR against his son Parth because of alleged land-grabbing case.Amadea Enterprises LLP, in which Parth Pawar and his cousin Digvijay Patil are partners, purchased a 43.26-acre plot — Survey No 88 (Mahar Watan land) — in Mouje Mundhwa adjacent to upmarket Koregaon Park in Pune for around Rs 300 crore with Stamp Duty waiver of nearly Rs 21 crore. The company paid just Rs 500 as Stamp Duty. Amadea Enterprises has proposed to make an IT park and data centre on the land. The market value of the piece of land has been pegged at Rs 1,800 crore.

This week, many ministers of Shiv Sena stayed away from the Cabinet meeting as they were upset with BJP inducting local level leaders in Kalyan-Dombivli in Thane district. In fact, Thane is Shinde’s bastion with him being an MLA and his son Dr Shrikant Shinde, who is MP from Kalyan.