Jolt to MVA as ally sides with Shinde faction

Mumbai: On Wednesday, CM Eknath Shinde gave a jolt to the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) when he held a press conference with People’s Republican Party chief Jogendra Kawade and announced an alliance with Kawade’s party. “Eknath Shinde was not born with a golden spoon. Today, the leadership that rose from bottom is heading the state of Maharashtra. During the MVA rule, Uddhav Thackeray did not pay attention to our statements”, Jogendra Kawade said. CM Eknath Shinde said, “It has been decided to combine Balasaheb’s Shiv Sena with Jogendra Kawade’s People’s Republican Party. We welcome it. Jogendra Kawade has contributed a lot in the movement during the struggle. Kawade’s aggressiveness was the cause of that the wealthy people used to worry. His long march has now reached its rightful place.” Elaborating how Shinde govt is better than Uddhav led MVA government, Kwade said, “A cultural building was constructed in honour of Babasaheb Ambedkar in Nagpur. The MVA govt handed this twenty acre land to tourism department. The then Tourism Minister Aaditya Thackeray had driven a bulldozer on that spot. When this happened, we met with senior ministers in the government and Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray four times. But they didn’t pay any attention to our statement. But as we put this demand before the Shinde government, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde gave us a positive response,” said Jogendra Kawade. “Maharashtra has got a very daring chief minister. There is a feeling that this is a government of everyone. We are very impressed by him,” said Kawade.