Mumbai The camaraderie between chief minister Eknath Shinde and deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis was for all to see on Thursday morning as Shinde waited for over two hours for Fadnavis to arrive before he formally assumed charge. Fadnavis, after he came, accompanied Shinde to the CM’s chair and gave him the first document to sign as Maharashtra’s new chief minister.
In the second half of the day, both men held a series of meetings at the Sahyadri guest house that included a review of SMART (State of Maharashtra Agri-Business and Rural Transformation Project) and Wainganga-Nalganga River Linking project.
As expected, it was busy first day for the CM who is known for keeping long hours at work. He first participated in the apex authority meeting of National Industrial Corridor Development and Implementation Trust (NICDIT) where he promised to make land parcels available at Koregaon in Satara district for the Bengaluru-Mumbai Industrial Corridor adding that the process for land acquisition for the project will soon begin.
At the apex authority meeting, Shinde urged the Centre to clear approvals for a textile park, a medical park and a bulk drugs park proposed in Maharashtra. “The proposals related to a textile park, medical park and bulk drugs park are awaiting clearances from the Centre. The state government will fast track them once they get approved,” Shinde said.
Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman, who chaired the meeting, said that the suggestions made by the chief minister would be undertaken through PM Gatishakti Yojna. She also promised to hold a special review meeting related to the development of Dighi Port by October.
After the meeting he spent time with rebel Sena MLAs like Deepak Kesarkar, Sada Sarvankar and Balaji Kalyankar.
It was only in the afternoon, around 1.30 pm when Devendra Fadnavis arrived that the photographers got the picture they were waiting for—of him sitting in the chair at his office and signing his first official document. The CM’s wife, Lata Shinde, son and MP Shrikant Shinde, daughter-in-law Vrushali were among those present.
