Yavatmal: Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Thursday said that in order to make India a superpower, it was imperative that Narendra Modi becomes the prime minister of the country once again. He also attacked the opposition INDIA bloc for failing to project a prime ministerial candidate and for not having any agenda.
Shinde was addressing a gathering after his party Shiv Sena's Rajashri Patil filed her nomination as the ruling Mahayuti's Yavatmal-Washim Lok Sabha seat candidate. Patil is the wife of sitting Hingoli MP Hemant Patil. Referring to PM Modi, Shinde said, "This is an important (Lok Sabha) election for India because a patriot has become the prime minister. He is the one who showed courage and abrogated Article 370 and constructed Ram temple in Ayodhya."
"There is no alternative to making Modi ji the prime minister once again if India is to be turned into a superpower," he said.
Targeting the INDIA bloc, he said the opposition neither has any agenda, nor a 'jhenda' (flag) nor a leader. "The opposition does not even have a prime ministerial candidate and their alliance is falling apart. On the one hand, there are Modi haters, while on the other there are the ones whose aim is to move ahead with development agenda," he said.
The government led by PM Modi has policy and takes decisions, while the opposition indulges in corruption, he added. Without naming any opposition leader, Shinde said they stay abroad for four months every year, while PM Modi works continuously without any leave.
Targeting Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray, he said they abandoned the ideology of Shiv Sena founder late Bal Thackeray. "How will people forgive them? My government connects with people directly unlike those who ran the government through Facebook," Shinde said. According to him, he joined the Mahayuti as Thackeray snapped ties with the BJP and joined the Congress.
While Sena's Hingoli MP Hemant Patil has not been nominated this time, the party's Yavatmal-Washim MP Bhavana Gawali also failed to get its ticket this time from her constituency. He assured the leaders from his party that he would stand firmly behind the sitting MPs from Yavatmal-Washim and Hingoli Lok Sabha seats even if they have not been renominated this time.
The CM praised sitting Yavatmal-Washim MP Bhavana Gawli, saying that the work done by her will help the party's new candidate Rajashri Patil.
"In politics, we have to take some decisions considering the equations. But while doing this, Eknath Shinde will not abandon anyone who has been left out (in ticket allocation) and will stand firmly with all of them...No one will be abandoned in Mahayuti," he said. He expressed confidence that Yavatmal-Washim candidate Patil will win by a record margin.
