Maharashtra CM Eknath Shinde clarifies on his on MPSC-EC gaffe

Shinde while speaking to the media on Wednesday mixed up Maharashtra Public Service Commission (MPSC) with the Election Commission.

Aurangabad: Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Thursday clarified his slip of the tongue on Wednesday mixing up Maharashtra Public Service Commission (MPSC) with the Election Commission (EC). The statement came amid a backlash from the opposition against Shinde with the CM's rivals accusing him to be obsessed with the EC, which has recognized the Shinde faction as the real Shiv Sena and granted it the party symbol of bow and arrow.

Addressing a function at Aurangabad on Thursday, CM Shinde clarified that he was referring to the MPSC while mixing up the commission with the EC. The slip of tongue happened on Wednesday in the backdrop of protests by the job aspirants demanding that the proposed new pattern of the examination by the Maharashtra Public Service Commission should be deferred till 2025.

CM Shinde while speaking to reporters on Wednesday said that he had conveyed the job aspirants' point “to the Election Commission” saying that his government was expecting a positive response in this regard. The CM's slip of the tongue triggered a backlash from his critics who said that Shinde was obsessed with the Election Commission.

A video of the gaffe had also gone viral on social media. EC recently recognized the Shinde faction as the real Shiv Sena and granted it the party symbol of bow and arrow following Shinde's rebellion along with a group of Sena MLAs against the then Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray last year.

Over a question on MP Sanjay Raut's claim that Eknath Shinde's son Shrikant Shinde is “plotting to kill” him, Shinde said it was a publicity stunt to gain sympathy and disrupt law and order.