Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and PM Modi at Wankhede Stadium. (Press Trust of India)
The Shiv Sena today cautioned new Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis against taking people for granted and asked him to fulfill the expectations of the common man.
"The new government is like a newly-wed woman who initially pleases her mother-in-law. In this case the mother-in-law is the people of Maharashtra. You cannot take people for granted. They have the power to pull your ears when you err," an editorial in Sena mouthpiece 'Saamana' said.
This is the first lesson the new BJP-led government will have to learn, the Sena said amid signs of a rapprochement between the two parties, which parted ways on September 25, just
weeks before the Assembly polls. The BJP emerged as the
single largest party in the state.
It is true that there is no magic wand to fulfill promises made (during polls) but people of Maharashtra are looking at the new government, the first led by the BJP, with a lot of hope, the publication said.
"Mantralaya (State Secretariat) was gutted during the Congress-NCP rule but the aspirations of people had turned into ashes much before that. The new chief minister should ensure that his work is like the proverbial Phoenix which rose from the ashes," the Sena editorial said.
Describing the BJP's big swearing-in ceremony on Friday for the Fadnavis-led ministry as grand (it was also attended by corporate bigwigs), the Sena said that the poor, and not the rich, should get the attention of the administration.
"Fadnavis has said he will emulate Shivaji Maharaj's example while ruling the state. He should remember that the real strength of Shivaji's Hindavi Swarajya was not the seth and sahukars but the common poor folk."
Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray attended the swearing-in ceremony at Wankhede Stadium after reportedly getting a call from BJP President Amit Shah.