MUMBAI: Ahead of the high-stakes poll battle to capture municipal corporations in Maharashtra, he and his party Shiv Sena have been targets of BJP‘s criticism in Navi Mumbai and were even faced with the Mahayuti ally’s plan to gain office in Ambernath in alliance with Congress in Maharashtra. But, deputy CM Eknath Shinde told TOI in an interview on Tuesday that he is in “constant dialogue” with CM Devendra Fadnavis and there is “no strain” in their relationship.Shinde accused the Thackeray cousins Uddhav and Raj of resorting to “emotional blackmail” in the name of “Marathi manoos”, saying they had “nothing else to talk about”, and asserted that Mahayuti will capture BMC and “transform Mumbai in five years”.Asked if he had expressed his displeasure to the CM over the ‘unfriendly’ fight in Navi Mumbai and Ambernath, Shinde said: “We speak on everything. We are in constant dialogue. Forget Navi Mumbai, people make all kinds of allegations, I don’t pay attention. CM knows what is happening, things are out in the open. Even he doesn’t agree with or like certain things.”On allegations being made against him by BJP colleagues, Shinde said he didn’t pay attention to these things and focussed on his work. The current focus of Mahayuti partners was to make the alliance win, he said, adding: “There is an NDA govt at Centre and a Mahayuti one in the state, so there is need for Mahayuti in BMC for development.”Attacking Uddhav’s party for Mumbai’s civic woes, he said: “We are making all roads cement concrete and pothole-free, we are making STPs. Why didn’t they do this in 25 years? They were letting sewage water go into the sea. We will make up for the governance deficit of 25 years in BMC. We have already covered a lot of ground in the past 3.5 years.”Shiv Sena had an uninterrupted 25-year reign in the BMC before the party split in 2022, with Shinde’s faction aligning itself with BJP.On Raj Thackeray’s allegations regarding many mega projects, including Dharavi redevelopment and Navi Mumbai, being handed over to Adani Group, Shinde said Uddhav was CM when these projects were handed over. “When you are in office, you have one stand and when you are not, you have another. These are double standards,” he said. “You say investors are not coming to the state and then make allegations against investors. You invest in London. But target investors in Maharashtra.”
