Mumbai: Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde officially took charge of his post at the state secretariat Mantralaya on Thursday.
A puja was held at the tastefully decorated office of the chief minister before Shinde took charge. His chamber had a large photograph of Shiv Sena founder Bal Thackeray and a picture of Shinde’s mentor Anand Dighe next to it.
As soon as he entered the secretariat building, Shinde paid floral tributes to Maratha warrior king Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj and Dr B R Ambedkar.
Speaking to reporters, Deepak Kesarkar, spokesperson of the Shinde-led faction of MLAs, said Bal Thackeray was nobody’s property.
“Balasaheb belongs to the entire state and nobody can change this fact,” he said, when asked about the Uddhav Thackeray-led faction’s objection to the use of the late Sena founder’s name and photograph by the Shinde group. Targeting Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut, Kesarkar (Contd On Pg 2)