Will fully support CM Fadnavis, cooperate with him: Eknath Shinde

Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], December 5 (ANI): Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shinde, who took oath as Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister on Wednesday, congratulated Devendra Fadnavis on taking oath as Chief Minister and said that he would fully support the BJP leader and cooperate with him in running the government.
He said the Mahayuti government belonged to the common man.
"Devendra Fadnavis has taken oath as CM in a historic swearing-in ceremony. I congratulate him. Maharashtra is a state that gives ideological direction to the country and I, who comes from a simple farmer family, got the opportunity to become the CM of such a state with the blessings of Balasaheb Thackeray. PM Narendra Modi also supported us completely, gave us full strength. Union Home Minister Amit Shah also stood behind us with full strength...And that is why we could do so much work in 2.5 years. We have taken so many historic decisions," Shinde told reporters.
Shinde said that Mahayauti government, which was led by him, got the blessing of the people due to schemes like Ladli Behna Yojana.
"This 2.5 years will be written in golden letters. I had said that in this election, we will see the result of the 2.5 year-tenure of the government, we will get the blessings of the people. I am also happy that when we started, 2.5 years ago, 40 people were with us, today 60 people are there. Our agenda is development. Earlier I used to consider myself as a common man, not a Chief Minister, now as DCM, I consider myself Dedicated to Common Man. I will fully support the CM and cooperate with him. This government belongs to the common man. People have affirmed who is the successor of the ideology of Balasaheb Thackeray," he said.
Shinde led the split in Shiv Sena in 2022 and joined hands with BJP to form government in Maharashtra. He took oath as Chief Minister in June 2022 and Fadnavis joined the government as Deputy Chief Minister.
After taking oath as Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister, Shiv Eknath Shinde garlanded the statue of Shiv Sena founder Balasaheb Thackeray in Colaba. Shinde also visited Anand Dighe Math in Thane.

NCP leader Ajit Pawar also took oath as Deputy Chief Minister on Thursday.
Fadnavis, Shinde and Pawar paid tributes to Dr BR Ambedkar at Mantralaya in Mumbai.
Fadnavis returned as Chief Minister of Maharashtra on Thursday as head of the Mahayuti government and is set to begin his new innings with Eknath Shinde and Ajit Pawar as two Deputy Chief Ministers.
A sagacious politician not given to impulsive decisions, Fadnavis, 54, has met challenges in his political career with patience and perseverance, strategic maneuvering and political acumen. He has emerged as one of the most prominent next-generation leaders of the BJP.
In the complex politics of Maharashtra, Fadnavis was the first Chief Minister to complete a full five-year term in 47 years and only the second one in the history of the state.
He was 18th Chief Minister of Maharashtra from 2014-2019 and contributed to BJP emerging as the single largest party in the assembly polls held later that year in which the party bagged 105 seats.
The BJP was unable to form government after 2019 polls due to differences with its traditional ally Shiv Sena led by Uddhav Thackeray over the post of Chief Minister but returned to power about two-and-half years later after a split in Shiv Sena, which was led by Shinde.
When Shinde joined hands with the BJP in June 2022, there was expectation among supporters of Fadnavis that he will become Chief Minister again. Though Fadnavis initially gave signals that he will not be part of the government, he abided by the party's directions and agreed to be Deputy Chief Minister, a decision seen as a sacrifice by him. Later, NCP also split and Ajit Pawar joined the ruling alliance as Deputy Chief Minister. The ruling Mahayuti secured an overwhelming majority in the results of assembly polls declared last month with BJP winning 132 seats at a strike rate of nearly 90 per cent. (ANI)