Mumbai: The rivalry between the Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and senior BJP minister Ganesh Naik continue to escalate even after the municipal elections in the state. Shinde’s son and Lok Sabha MP Shrikant Shinde on Sunday challenged Naik to contest against him in the next Lok Sabha elections.
“If he has so much enthusiasm, let him prove it in the electoral arena. He or his son should contest from Kalyan or Thane. I am ready for a direct fight,” Shrikant Shinde said in Ambernath.
His remarks came after Naik, a state forest minister, on Saturday levelled serious allegations over land allotments in Navi Mumbai, which were widely seen as aimed at the Urban Development department headed by Eknath Shinde.
“These plots were reserved for hospitals, gardens and schools. Instead, they have been pushed into the throats of builders through middlemen. If people in our own Urban Development department are doing this, how can I remain silent? I have not taken up a ministerial post to keep quiet. If I cannot speak for the people, what is the use of being a minister?” Naik said.
The BJP minister also warned that if the party gave the order, the name of Shrikant Shinde would have to be written as ‘former MP’ forever.
Reacting sharply, Shrikant Shinde accused Naik of making ‘baseless and repetitive allegations.’ |Ganesh Naik has age-related memory loss. That is why he is criticizing anything. He should not talk about making me ‘former.’ He should be aware that citizens have made him former many times,” he added.
Highlighting his electoral credentials, Shinde underlined that he has been elected to the Lok Sabha three consecutive times with significant margins and has never faced defeat. He also claimed that the Shiv Sena (Shinde faction) has maintained strong influence in key civic bodies across Thane, Kalyan-Dombivli, Ulhasnagar and Ambernath, asserting that political strength in the region was built ‘on its own merit.’
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