At first press meet, Uddhav Thackeray asked if Shiv Sena has become secular. He responds

The three parties - Shiv Sena-NCP-Congress - having sunk their ideological and political differences came together to put up an anti-BJP front.

Maharashtra’s new chief minister Uddhav Thackeray, who also doubles up as Shiv Sena boss and a strident champion of Hindutva, was asked at his very first press meet if his party’s alliance with the Congress and NCP meant it was accepting secularism. The CM, deftly skirting a direct answer, threw back the Constitutional guarantee on the subject.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray addresses media at Sahyadri Guest House after the first cabinet meeting, in Mumbai, (PTI)

In the West’s idea of secularism, the state is strictly divorced from the Church whereas the Indian idea of secularism envisages equal distance from all religions.

The three parties - Shiv Sena-NCP-Congress - having sunk their ideological and political differences came together to put up an anti-BJP front. The development came after Sena, BJP’s pre-poll alliance partner in the Maharashtra poll, broke its decades long alliance over the issue of rotational chief ministership.

“The alliance partners commit to uphold the secular values enshrined in the Constitution,” read the preamble of the document.

The document was released by senior Sena leader Eknath Shinde, state Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Jayant Patil and state Congress chief Balasaheb Thorat.

The Shiv Sena supremo offered prayers at Siddhivinayak temple in Mumbai after taking oath as the chief minister of Maharashtra at a grand ceremony at Shivaji park. Uddhav Thackeray was accompanied by his wife Rashmi and son Aaditya.