Our bonding strong, say Shinde and Fadnavis after flying in same chopper

At the Shasan Aplya Dari Yojana event held at CIDCO Maidan, the Shinde-Fadnavis duo used their sense of humour to put an end to the controversy.

Amid the the ongoing tensions over Shiv Sena’s advertisement in newspapers and retaliatory statements by BJP, Eknath Shinde and Devendra Fadnavis flew in the same chopper to Palghar and returned back to the state capital - but before that they assured that their bonding is extremely strong and would not break.

Shinde, the Chief Minister, and Fadnavis, the Deputy Chief Minister, flew from Mumbai to Palghar and returned in the same helicopter - signalling that the issue has ended even as state BJP President Chandrashekhar Bawankule said that the matter needs to be closed.

The advertisement has claimed that people prefer Shinde more than Fadnavis as Chief Minister.

Read | In damage-control mode, Eknath Shinde's Shiv Sena comes out with new advertisement

At the Shasan Aplya Dari Yojana event held at CIDCO Maidan on the Palghar-Boisar Road, the Shinde-Fadnavis duo used their sense of humour to put an end to the controversy that has exposed them to attacks from the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi.

Speaking first, Fadnavis, who was upset for the last couple of days, took the initiative to put an end to the issue.

“We have been working together for the past 25 years, we are in the (Shiv Sena-BJP) alliance government now…tomorrow also would be working together…one advertisement or statement does not affect us…it is not going to weaken it or create any problems in the dispensation,” Fadnavis said.

On his part, Shinde said: “We have known each other for 15 to 20 years…we have a very good bonding…yeh Fevicol ka jod hai, tutega nahi.”

Adding further, Shinde said: “We both are workers…we work in the field. Our foot is on the ground…we go and meet people, we don’t work from home, it is not a Facebook Live government.” This was an apparent dig at his predecessor and Shiv Sena (UBT) head Uddhav Thackeray.

Shinde also praised Fadnavis for his style of functioning. “We have executed a great project, the Samruddhi Mahamarg which connects Mumbai to Nagpur…it was Devendra ji who dreamt of it, planned it and we worked together to complete it,” he said.

Talking about the survey which was quoted in the advertisement, he said that 84 per cent people want Prime Minister Narendra Modi to continue in the top post. “At every stage Modi ji and Union Home Minister Amit Shah has been helping us,” he said and also recalled the contribution of late Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and late BJP stalwarts - Pramod Mahajan and Gopinath Munde.

Read | Eknath Shinde more preferred as CM over Devendra Fadnavis, claims Shiv Sena survey

Reacting to the Shiv Sena ad, BJP leader Anil Bonde has said: “Shinde should not consider Thane as a whole Maharashtra. Earlier Uddhav Thackeray made the same mistake. Thackeray thought that Mumbai is Maharashtra. Someone must be misguiding Eknath Shinde.”

A poster has been put up in Ulhasnagar which read - “BJP with 105, Shiv Sena is 50. It’s the large-heartedness of Devendra Fadnavis. His name is enough.”

A former minister, Bawankule said: “In a family, two brothers also fight. So, differences might occur... I think we should close this matter.”