Eknath Shinde urges party workers to gear up for municipal elections

After the unprecedented success in the assembly elections Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde exhorted party workers to be ready for the upcoming municipal polls in the state reported news agency ANIAddressing Shiv Sena office bearers and workers at a gathering held at the NSCI Dome Center in Worli he said Take the work done by the government in Mumbai and the state over the last two and a half years to the people Every ward should have a Shiv Sena branch and every home should have a Shiv Sainik We delivered one blow in the assembly elections and now we need to deliver the second blow in the Mumbai Municipal Corporation reported ANIHe directed the members and office bearers to register 123 new names from each ward as party members and ensure that each ward has more than 10000 registered membersfurther said Some people talk about breaking Mumbai whenever elections approach But as long as the sun and the moon exist no one can separate Mumbai from us Our government is driving stalled redevelopment projects and bringing back displaced Mumbaikars Weve unified various agencies like MHADA MMRDA MahaPreit and MIDC to initiate clusterbased development in Mumbai similar to Thane Our government has established seven STPs in Mumbai and within three to four years processed wastewater will be released into the sea turning Mumbais seawater into crystal blue Shiv Sena press release quoted Deputy CM Shinde as saying reported ANIThe governments plan to concrete all Mumbai roads in two phases However in the name of road repairs some people have syphoned off Rs 3500 crore Shinde said taking a jibe at the UBT faction Weve launched 700 Balasaheb Thackeray Health Clinics across the state with 300 more to come in Mumbai Additionally weve acquired 120 acres from the Mahalaxmi Racecourse to develop a 300acre Central Parksomething no one dared attempt before he added reported ANILaunching a scathing attack on the opposition Shinde said When I became Chief Minister I cleaned Mumbais roads and reduced pollution But you spent years cleaning out the treasury insteadHe recalled his preelection promise saying I declared in my first speech in the assembly that the MahaYuti would win over 200 seatsor else I would return to farming But the people of Maharashtra including our beloved sisters brothers farmers and elders voted overwhelmingly for us They showed in the elections who the real Shiv Sena is Those who accused us of taking bribes were locked away by the public Im not here for power Im here for people Ive never bargained for positions I rebelled to carry forward Balasaheb Thackerays ideals guided by the principles of Dharmaveer Anand DigheHitting out the opposition he said that the opposition parties dont care or Balasahebs principles and they want parts property reported ANIThey dont care for Balasahebs principles all they want is the partys property Balasaheb Thackeray was the only leader who gave this country the ideology of Hindutva But the opposition succumbed to the lure of power and lost everything If they hadnt become Chief Minister the party wouldnt have split They began treating their colleagues as servants A party doesnt grow by creating hierarchies of masters and servants They even called a district head and asked Will you stay with the master or go with the servant That kind of mentality will never grow the party he said in a press note reported ANIThis party belongs to the workers Balasaheb nurtured it with his heart respecting every Shiv Sainik Weve followed the teachings of Balasaheb and Anand Dighe to bring a government for the common people In the gram panchayat elections held after our rebellion we emerged as the secondlargest party People are joining us in large numbers instead of questioning why theyre coming here the opposition should introspect about why people are leaving them Shinde addedDiscussing the MahaYuti coalition Shinde said All three parties are working together Theres no cold war our war is against those who work against developmentDuring the event several leaders including UBT faction Vile Parle SubDivision Chief Jitendra Janawale Yuva Senas Ajita Janawale SubDivision Chief Anil Khandekar Hani Sablo and NCPs Mumbai Secretary Satish Nair joined Shiv SenaWith inputs from ANI