I am a 'sevak', my govt committed to all-round development of Maharashtra: CM

Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Wednesday said he was a sevak and his government was committed to the allaround development of the state as well as welfare of its citizensShinde also said that the decisions being taken now for the welfare of the people should have been taken two and a half years back but since that did not happen 50 MLAs had to unite and take a standHe was referring to Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackerays announcement made on Tuesday about his partys support for the National Democratic Alliances Presidential candidate Droupadi MurmuShinde was interacting with reporters at Anand Ashram in the city after paying tributes to the late Shiv Sena leader and his mentor Anand Dighe on the occasion of Guru PurnimaWhen asked about NCP president Sharad Pawars recent remark that he wanted the Shiv Sena NCP and Congress to contest the future elections together as the Maha Vikas Aghadi MVA the chief minister said Pawar is a big leader The 50 MLAs who are in my camp and with the present alliance with the BJP all of us are aiming to develop the state Hence we do not want to get into any politicsMy government wants to ensure that the lives of the people of the state are improved The citizens should feel that it is their government I am a sevak servant and will remain one till the end I will walk on the path shown by late Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray and Anand Dighe by following their principles he saidWhen asked about Thackeray announcing his partys support to Murmu Shinde said the Shiv Sena MPs wanted itEven we the 50 rebel MLAs have already declared our backing to Murmu The support being given to Murmu from all quarters is being welcomed at all levels and by everyone Even the support given by Uddhav Thackeray to her is being welcomed from all quarters he addedThe decisions meant for the welfare of the people which are being taken now should have been taken two and a half years back But since they did not do so the 50 MLAs had to unite and take a stand We have taken this decision now he saidShinde was referring to the rebellion in the Shiv Sena led by him last month A majority of the Sena MLAs had sided with him leading to the collapse of the MVA government headed by Uddhav Thackeray Shinde became the chief minister a day after Thackeray resigned from the top post on June 29The stand taken by the 50 MLAs has been receiving an overwhelming response from all over the state Even during my visit to Pandharpur recently where 10 lakh people had gathered on the occasion of Ashadhi Ekadashi I got a rousing reception I moved freely among the people and they gave me love he addedThe stand taken by the rebel camp has been welcomed by the partys officebearers corporators and all others he claimedEven today Sena corporators from Ulhasnagar supported us and the situation is similar in Nashik and Ahmednagar etc he saidWhen asked whether the expansion of his cabinet would happen after July 18 he replied in the affirmative but refused to elaborateShinde also evaded any direct reply to a query about Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Rauts statement that his partys support to Murmu does not mean backing the BJP he said his factions spokesperson Deepak Kesarkar has gone to Delhi for a meeting of the parties called by the NDA over the presidential pollsThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever