People voted in favour of development, rejected negative politics: CM Shinde

Mumbai: Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde along with his deputies, Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar, on Saturday, thanked the people of the state for the MahaYuti's resounding success, accepting the development politics and rejecting the anti-growth and negative politics.

He said the three MahaYuti parties would sit together and decide on the Chief Minister’s post.

CM Shinde took a swipe at the Maha Vikas Aghadi, especially, SS(UBT) for repeatedly claiming that the MahaYuti government would collapse. The CM said that they did not respond to this by making counter-allegations. Terming the poll performance "historical", the Chief Minister said that MahaYuti’s responsibility to boost the pace of development has further increased. "We have won the hearts and not the votes of people," he claimed.

He took a dig at his former boss Uddhav Thackeray saying, "The poll results have proved that the government cannot be run by sitting at home or through Facebook but by mingling with the people and working 24x7."

The CM said the people have decided whose Shiv Sena is the real Shiv Sena. NCP President Ajit Pawar also determined whose NCP is the real NCP.

The Chief Minister also took a swipe at the opposition for criticising Prime Minister Narendra Modi over his 'Ek Hai To Safe Hai' call saying that it was given for unity. Fadnavis said that the 'Ek Hai To Safe Hai' call given by the Prime Minister was for unity among various sections of the society and today’s mandate was a befitting reply to those doing communal, divisive politics and appeasement politics.

"The election was contested based on the development plank and welfare schemes. People want development. They do not want vindictive politics," he said.

The Chief Minister said the government launched the welfare and development schemes after considering the state’s financial position and also adhering to the Central and RBI norms. "Opposition questioned the MahaYuti government about how the funds will be made available for Ladki Bahin Yojana but later they announced financial aid through Mahalakshmi yojana," he said.

The CM also criticised the opposition for terming financial aid under the Ladki Bahin Yojana as a bribe but said the government undeterred by such allegations focused on its implementation.

He thanked the Centre for giving funds and clearing a slew of projects for Maharashtra, including the Rs 76,000 crore Vadhvan port project. "During the UPA government, the Centre gave Rs 2 lakh crore while the BJP-led government released over Rs 10 lakh crore in the last decade," he said.

Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Dy CMs Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar ridiculed Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut's allegation of poll results as "fraud".