Don't take me lightly, toppled a govt once: Maha deputy CM

Maharashtra's deputy chief minister Eknath Shinde on Friday appeared to issue a veiled warning to his detractors, cautioning them to not take him lightly and fueling mounting speculation of a rift within the state's ruling alliance.

- Pradip Kumar Maitra

NAGPUR: Maharashtra's deputy chief minister Eknath Shinde on Friday appeared to issue a veiled warning to his detractors, cautioning them to not take him lightly and fueling mounting speculation of a rift within the state's ruling alliance. In Nagpur, Shinde addressed the media about the police recently receiving emails warning of bombs in his car. Unfazed, Shinde said that he has faced threats before and remained unafraid. But his subsequent comments veered into the political sphere.

"Do not take me lightly. I have already said this to those who took me lightly. I am a normal party worker but I am also a worker of Balasaheb Thackeray, and everyone should take me with this understanding," Shinde declared.

"When you took it lightly in 2022, the horse turned around, and I changed the government, we brought the government of the wishes of the common people. In my first speech in the Vidhan Sabha, I said that Devendra Fadnavis ji would get more than 200 seats, and we got 232 seats," he said.

"That is why do not take me lightly; those who want to understand this hint, they should understand it, and I will continue doing my work," he added, asserting his political influence and commitment to serving the people of Maharashtra.