Samruddhi Expressway inauguration: Fadnavis, Shinde take turns at driver's seat

Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis who inaugurated the final stretch of the MumbaiNagpur Samruddhi Expressway on Thursday swapped the drivers seat with his deputy Eknath ShindeCM Fadnavis along with Eknath Shinde and Ajit Pawar took a car ride on the newly opened route during the inspection of the highwayDeputy CM Eknath Shinde drove an Audi car from Igatpuri in Nashik district of Maharashtra for a few kilometers accompanied by CM Fadnavis and deputy CM Ajit Pawar while on their return journey the trio travelled together with Fadnavis taking over the steering of the vehicleAt the inauguration Fadnavis deputy CMs Shinde and Pawar were present along with a few state ministers at Igatpuri located about 140 km from MumbaiFor the inspection first Deputy CM Shinde drove the car with CM Fadnavis sitting on the front seat beside him and Ajit Pawar occupying the back seat with two bureaucratsThe inspection lasted around 45 minutes including the time taken for the journey The drive was up to the viaduct which is the tallest on the expresswayOn the way back the car was changed and Fadnavis and Shinde swapped seats with the CM getting behind the wheel and Shinde sitting beside him while Pawar remained in the same seat LIVE 05062025 httpstcoFA0Emt2ChYmdash Eknath Shinde mieknathshinde June 5 2025The car drive somewhat described the political changes in Maharashtra that the state witnessed in the past yearsCM Fadnavis first became CM in 2014 and completed his full fiveyear term But after the 2019 assembly elections the Shiv Sena parted ways with BJP and joined hands with NCP and Congress to form the Maha Vikas Aghadi MVA government with Uddhav Thackeray becoming the chief ministerHowever Thackerays tenure was cut short in June 2022 after Shinde rebelled against him Shinde along with other rebel MLAs joined hands with BJP and formed the Mahayuti government Shinde took over as the CM while Fadnavis became his deputyAfter the November 2024 assembly polls Fadnavis and Shindes roles were reversed as the former took over as the chief minister with Shinde being appointed as the deputy CMMeanwhile in the last phase of the MumbaiNagpur Expressway project Igatpuri was connected with Amane in Bhiwandi taluka of Thane district to make the entire corridor fully functional bringing down the travel time between the two cities to 8 hours from around 18 hoursSpeaking at the inauguration event Ajit Pawar called Shinde as chief minister but immediately corrected his mistake bringing a smile on the faces of everyone present on the dais including CM Fadnavis as well as the audience according to the PTIAjit Pawar said This expressway is the dream project of CM Devendra Fadnavis which he launched during his first tenure as the chief minister and it has been completed when he is the chief minister again reported the PTIThis happens on rare occasions that people who start a project get to complete it I remember that those who first opposed the project later gave their lands for it and earned money he said LIVE 05062025 httpstcoFZUJK7wHkNmdash Eknath Shinde mieknathshinde June 5 2025He further said Deputy CM Eknath Shinde drove our Audi car during our journey on the stretch today CM Devendra Fadnavis sat beside him and I was keeping a watch whether he was driving well or not but everything went on smoothlyDuring the return journey CM Fadnavis followed the speed limit and we reached safely by following all the rules and here I am speaking to you We did not have to use our insurance Ajit Pawar said in a lighter vein creating laughter among the audience as per the PTIAjit Pawar said the car was being driven at 120 kmph when they were on the viaduct but it was smoothly reduced to 100 kmph before it entered the tunnel pointing out that there was no violation of speed limitwith PTI inputs