CM on trip to Mahabaleshwar, his 1st break after taking charge

After a hectic election campaign and the subsequent power struggle to form the state government, chief minister (CM) Uddhav Thackeray on Friday left for a short

After a hectic election campaign and the subsequent power struggle to form the state government, chief minister (CM) Uddhav Thackeray on Friday left for a short trip to Mahabaleshwar with his family.

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While a senior Shiv Sena functionary said it was not a ‘break’ and that the CM was going to attend a wedding, another leader said the Thackeray family would be out of Mumbai till Sunday. During his stay, the CM could chair a meeting on the Mahabaleshwar development plan on Saturday, officials from the CM’s office said.

“Uddhavji will leave for Mahabaleshwar by afternoon after his engagements in Mumbai. The CM and his family will be in Mahabaleshwar for three days [till Sunday],” said a party functionary requesting anonymity. State environment and tourism minister Aaditya Thackeray also joined his family, he added.

Owing to two elections — Lok Sabha and Assembly — in 2019, and the subsequent month-long political drama to form the government in Maharashtra, the Thackerays could not take their annual family vacation last year.

Another party functionary said that it was not a ‘break’ as the CM was going to Mahabaleshwar to attend the wedding of Sena legislator Bhaskar Jadhav’s son. “He was scheduled to attend Jadhav’s son, Vikrant’s wedding in Mahabaleshwar on Saturday. It [the stay] has been extended by a day. It is not a vacation,” the senior functionary said.