There should be no differences in Mahayuti, says Shinde after meeting with CM

Most Shiv Sena ministers mdash barring Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister CM Eknath Shinde mdash skipped the weekly cabinet meeting on Tuesday apparently over ally Bharatiya Janata Party BJP inducting Sena leaders and workers in various parts of the state heightening unease within the Mahayuti ahead of local body pollsHowever after a meeting with CM Devendra Fadnavis Shinde sought to play down the episode stating that the matter had been resolved and the allies had agreed not to induct each otherrsquos cadres news agency PTI reportedldquoA meeting with the CM took place and it was decided that there should be no differences in Mahayutirdquo Shinde told reportersldquoWe contested the Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabha polls together The CM and I feel the atmosphere should not get muddied in the local body polls The CM has said there should be no internal inductions into the party I have instructed my party leaders and the CM will do the same with his leaders to ensure harmonyrdquo he addedShiv Sena Minister Pratap Sarnaik admitted there was ldquodisgruntlementrdquo over BJPrsquos inductions in Palghar Thane and other districts PTI reported However Uday Samant who also skipped the meeting insisted there was no boycottldquoThere is no disgruntlement There was no boycott of the cabinet meetingrdquo he said citing personal and constituencyrelated engagements of various ministersSources earlier told PTI that by staying away from the cabinet meeting the Sena wanted to send a message to the BJP that it disapproved of the saffron party ldquoweaning awayrdquo its workers mdash with the recent defections in KalyanDombivli said to be the triggerShiv Sena ministers later met Fadnavis and expressed their displeasure over the developments in Dombivli sources said The CM however reportedly pointed out that the Sena itself had inducted BJP members in neighbouring Ulhasnagar He is learnt to have told the ministers that when one ally attracts anotherrsquos members it cannot object if the BJP does the same He further emphasised that henceforth Mahayuti partners should refrain from inducting each otherrsquos workersSarnaik said both sides had issues but they were ironed out quickly ldquoThere are issues even in a family and this is a Mahayuti government of three parties Emotions have to be expressed before one another We along with Shinde met the CM and shared our emotions In 10 minutes there was a solution to thisrdquo he saidHe added that there had been unease over inductions in Palghar Solapur Thane Kolhapur and KalyanDombivli ldquoThere is a race to induct people ahead of local body pollshellip Sometimes things happen and there is miscommunicationrdquo he saidShiv Sena UBT leader Aaditya Thackeray slammed the ministers of the Shindeled faction for ldquoboycottingrdquo the meeting ldquoBut boycotting a cabinet meeting for their selfish interests is an insult to Maharashtra and its people Cabinet meetings are meant to solve the peoples issues not to handle your petty squabblesrdquo he said on XShiv Sena minister Gulabrao Patil denied any signs of displeasure saying some ministers were attending a party meeting Another Sena minister also said the issues had been addressedBJP minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule dismissed talk of a boycott saying the Sena ministers were away due to electionrelated work ldquoThere is no issue of displeasure herehellip Many ministers had taken prior permission from CM Fadnavis before travelling to their native districtsrdquo he saidDeputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar said he did not sense any unhappiness during the meeting He believed the absences were linked to scrutiny of nomination papers for the December 2 local pollsWith PTI inputs