Sena (UBT) mouthpiece lauds Fadnavis for ‘clean-up drive’

“We congratulate CM Fadnavis for his clean-up drive to remove fixers working in the government during Eknath Shinde’s tenure as chief minister,” said an editorial in the Marathi daily

Mumbai: In yet another instance of the thaw in relations between Shiv Sena (UBT) and chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, the mouthpiece of the Uddhav Thackeray led party, Saamana, on Wednesday lauded the latter for rejecting the names proposed by Shiv Sena ministers for the post of their personal secretaries and officers on special duty.

Uddhav Thackeray paid a courtesy visit to Devendra Fadnavis during the winter session of the state assembly in December 2024 (PTI)

“We congratulate CM Fadnavis for his clean-up drive to remove fixers working in the government during Eknath Shinde’s tenure as chief minister,” said an editorial in the Marathi daily.

The Shiv Sena (UBT) chief has made several overtures towards Fadnavis since the winter session of the state legislature in December 2024, bypassing years of bitterness owing to Thackeray breaking the alliance with BJP in 2019 to join hands with the Congress and NCP to form the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government and become the chief minister. The MVA government collapsed in 2022 when Eknath Shinde and a majority of Shiv Sena MLAs switched over to the BJP-led camp, breaking the Shiv Sena into two factions.

After Thackeray paid a courtesy visit to Fadnavis during the winter session in December 2024, several other Shiv Sena (UBT) leaders including Aaditya Thackeray have met Fadnavis in the past two months. Party leaders have also praised the chief minister on issues where he has cornered Shinde, such as promoting investment in the Maoist insurgency-affected Gadchiroli district and ordering an inquiry into the revival of a housing scheme at Jalna during Shinde’s tenure as chief minister.

On Wednesday, the party’s mouthpiece Saamana was all praises for Fadnavis.

“The chief minister has rejected 16 names proposed by ministers from the Shinde camp as their personal secretaries and officers on special duty because during the earlier government headed by Shinde, they were involved in fixing,” it said.

Saamna’s editorial also referred union home minister Amit Shah as the founder of the Shinde-led Shiv Sena and urged Fadnavis to report the deputy chief minister for corruption. A French company had recently alleged that the practice of taking commissions was rife in the Mumbai Metropolitan Regional Development Authority (MMRDA), which was headed by Shinde, also the urban development minister, the editorial said.

“Prime minister Narendra Modi recently said, ‘Just inform me about people demanding money and I will take strict action.’ CM Fadnavis should inform him about Shinde and his men,” it said.