Eknath Shinde Visits Raj Thackeray's Residence, Days After MNS Chief's Criticism

New Delhi: Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde paid a courtesy visit to MNS chief Raj Thackeray at his residence in Mumbai on Sunday. Raj Thackeray, speaking at a Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) rally in Mumbai on Wednesday, slammed the Eknath Shinde-BJP government for spending Rs 1,700 crore on beautification of Mumbai.

He also accused Uddhav Thackeray of the departure of numerous Shiv Sena leaders, including CM Shinde and 39 MLAs who supported him and raised a revolt banner in June last year.

The construction was dismantled on Thursday, a day after the MNS chief released a video of a'mazar' or mausoleum-like structure being built illegally off the shore of Mumbai's Mahim region. Deepak Kesarkar, a minister under Eknath Shinde, stated that the Maharashtra administration is following in the footsteps of Balasaheb Thackeray.

"Our government runs on the vision of Balasaheb Thackeray. Balasaheb Thackeray used to raise these issues and now Raj Thackeray raised them. Due to Raj Thackeray, it came to our notice that the violation of Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) Act is going on, so we took action so that no one in future repeats these actions," said Eknath Shinde.

Raj Thackeray has stated that if the state government does not take steps to remove loudspeakers from mosques, he will resume his 'Hindutva' campaign. He also asked for the dismissal of over 17,000 complaints filed against his party members last year when they protested the removal of loudspeakers from mosques.

In a recent rally, the MNS head slammed Uddhav Thackeray for giving the Shinde group the 'bow and arrow' poll symbol and the Shiv Sena name, claiming that only party founder Bal Thackeray could handle the symbol.