Fact Check: PM Modi did not snub Eknath Shinde by inviting Fadnavis to a meeting of CMs

New Delhi, July 27: After much drama the state of Maharashtra got a new government led by the Shiv Sena and BJP. Following the formation of the government, Maharashtra's Chief Minister Eknath Shinde accompanied by Devendra Fadnavis called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Delhi.

Now a post has gone viral claiming that PM Modi ignored Shinde and invited Fadnavis for a meeting of Chief Ministers. The viral post shows Fadnavis greeting the PM with folded hands.

It was the Chief Minister's Council. See, who is the Chief Minister of Maharashtra among them?" the caption read.

OneIndia has learnt that this claim is wrong. The meeting was not of the council of ministers, but taken during a meeting of BJP Chief Ministers Council. Non-BJP leaders and NDA allies were not invited for the meeting.

A press release by the BJP said that the image in question is from the BJP CMs Council which was held on July 24 at the party's Delhi office. The PM during the meeting interacted with 12 chief ministers and 8 deputy chief minister from states where the BJP is in power on its own or with an alliance.

The viral image was found on the official website of the BJP along with a press release of the event. In the BJP seated alongside the PM is the BJP national chiefs, J P Nadda.
PM Modi also tweeted images of the meeting and wrote, Attended a meeting with
@BJP4India Chief Ministers and Deputy Chief Ministers. This meeting gave us the opportunity to discuss best practices in the states, how to further strengthen the reach of Central schemes and more.

Since Fadnavis is the deputy chief minister of Maharashtra he too was invited for the meeting. BJPs deputy chief ministers Yanthungo Patton from Nagaland, Tarkishore Prasad, and Renu Devi from Bihar were also part of the meeting.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, Tripura Chief Minister Manik Saha, Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel, and Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant were also part of the meeting.

Hence it is clear that the image that is in circulation is from a BJP CM Council meeting which was only attended by the party's CMs and deputy CMs. Hence the question of Shinde being ignored is wrong and the claim is a false one.