Mumbai: On Wednesday, Maharashtra’s Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde referred to himself as the “pilot” while designating Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar as “co-pilots” during the launch of the “development aircraft” under the previous Mahayuti government.
Shinde, who is also the president of Shiv Sena, made these remarks following the inauguration of an airport and a new commercial passenger flight service in Amravati, located in eastern Maharashtra. Chief Minister Fadnavis and Pawar were in attendance at the event.
Shinde noted that the construction of the Amravati airport commenced when Fadnavis served as chief minister from 2014 to 2019, but progress was halted when the Maha Vikas Aghadi coalition assumed power in 2019. He asserted that upon the return of a “people’s government” (the Mahayuti government led by him) in 2022, the airport’s construction was expedited.
He criticized the previous MVA administration led by Uddhav Thackeray, claiming that numerous projects and welfare initiatives had been discontinued, resulting in a stagnation of development.
“When development and welfare initiatives resumed, I was the pilot of the aircraft, with Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar as co-pilots. Currently, Fadnavis is the pilot, and the two of us are co-pilots. Although the pilot has changed, the ‘development aircraft’ remains the same, and we are progressing at the same pace,” he stated.
