‘Auto-matic’ support pours in for Shinde

Uddhav Thackeray, the former chief minister and Shiv Sena chief, made a comment referring to Shinde’s early days, when he earned a living driving an auto rickshaw

Auto rickshaw drivers gathered in Thane to show support for chief minister Eknath Shinde on Thursday, in light of Uddhav Thackeray’s three-wheeler jibe at Shinde on Tuesday.

Autorickshaw drivers gather in support of CM Eknath Shinde wearing T-shirts with the slogan "Mee Rickshawala, Mee Mukhyamantri" on Thursday (Praful Gangurde)

Uddhav Thackeray, the former chief minister and Shiv Sena chief, made a comment referring to Shinde’s early days, when he earned a living driving an auto rickshaw.

“Me rickshawala, me mukhyamantri” (I am the auto driver, I am the Chief Minister), read the slogan on the banners, stickers and t-shirts that were displayed by the auto drivers. The banner was put up in front of the Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC) headquarters, and the drivers had also stuck stickers with the above slogan on their vehicles.

“We are proud that Eknath Shinde is the chief minister of the state. Since he has been an auto driver, he knows the problems we face. The fuel prices are high, and hopefully, he will make efforts to reduce them,” said Satish Gavkar (40), an auto driver.

On Tuesday, Thackeray said that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) used to call the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA)-led state government a three-wheeler government, but now the person who drove the three-wheeler (Eknath Shinde) has taken over the state’s top post.

“Autorickshaw outpaced Mercedes (car)... because this is a government of the common man,” retorted Shinde in a tweet on Wednesday in Marathi, apparently referring to his rebellion that led to the fall of Thackeray’s government.