When Home Minister Amit Shah was on his way to Mumbai on Sunday, leaders and ministers of the Mahayuti alliance in Maharashtra were on their way to rush back to the state capital before his arrival. Such was the hurry that Water Supplies Minister Gulabarao Patil took a car from Jalgaon district instead of waiting for the train. On the other hand BJP state chief Chandrashekhar Bawankule who was expected late in the night, took an afternoon flight from Nagpur and came back with Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis.
The reason behind this was Amit Shah's two-day scheduled visit was just not limited to take darshan of Lord Ganesha in Mumbai. The Home Minister had lined up three back-to-back meetings with BJP state unit leaders, a separate meeting with Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar.
The meetings assume utmost significance in view of the charged atmosphere in the state political circle that is witnessing most volatile moments in the last few days with controversies over running the government, statements by Shiv Sena ministers against NCP's Ajit Pawar who is in charge of the state finance department.
While the BJP has been in a fix over its present face-off with Manoj Jarange-Patil and the high expectations of its partners in the seat sharing for the upcoming assembly elections, the tongue-lashing by Shinde's ministers against Ajit Pawar has further complicated the scenario.
The first meeting scheduled on Sunday night was with the senior BJP state leaders including Fadnavis, Bawankule and other ministers. The state in-charge appointed by the central BJP unit for Maharashtra affairs and Vinod Tawade were also expected, sources said.
The second meeting was expected with Ajit Pawar alone and the third and last one was with CM Shinde, according to sources.
Shah was expected to take a review of the poll preparedness and the implementation of the populist schemes launched in recent times. He might also ask the leaders to apply breaks on the controversial remarks and statements such as the ones made by Health Minister Tanaji Sawant and Water Supply Minister Gulabrao Patil. While Sawant said he feels like vomiting after sitting with NCP ministers during the cabinet meetings, Patil said the finance department (headed by Ajit Pawar) was worthless.
Meanwhile, Shah arrived in Mumbai on Sunday evening and his first programme was to unveil the documentary 'Mumbai Samachar - 200 Not Out'. The documentary highlights the remarkable 200-year journey of ‘Mumbai Samachar’ Asia’s oldest Gujarati daily newspaper.
On Monday morning, Amit Shah will visit the homes of Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Chief Minister Eknath Shinde for Ganpati darshan. He will also visit ‘Lalbaugcha Raja’ and attend Ashish Shelar's public Ganesh mandal for darshan.
