Maharashtra: Pic of Eknath Shinde's son seen sitting on CM's chair goes viral

Mumbai, Sep 24: The Shive Sena faction led by Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde landed into a controversy on Friday after the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) shared a picture of Shrikant Shinde is seen sitting on CM's chair.

NCP spokesperson Ravikant Varpe tweeted the image of Shrikant sitting on the chair in front of a photo of Shiv Sena founder Balasaheb Thackeray. A board kept below the photo and behind the chair read 'Maharashtra government-chief minister'.He wrote in Marathi,''Best wishes to Shrikant Shinde for becoming Super CM. The strangulation of democracy is going on. What kind of Rajdharma is this?.''

खा.श्रीकांत शिंदे यांना सुपर सीएम झाल्याबद्दल हार्दिक शुभेच्छा.
मुख्यमंत्र्यांच्या गैरहजेरीत त्यांचे चिरंजीव मुख्यमंत्री पदाचा कारभार सांभाळतात.लोकशाहीचा गळा घोटण्याचे काम सुरूय.हा कोणता राजधर्म आहे?असा कसा हा धर्मवीर?@mieknathshinde @DrSEShinde pic.twitter.com/rpOZimHnxL

— Ravikant Varpe - रविकांत वरपे (@ravikantvarpe) September 23, 2022

Sena leader Priyanka Chaturvedi also said her sympathies are with Devendra Fadnavis, the deputy chief minister who has made of joke of the CM's chair. "They had a problem when Aaditya Thackeray was handling the affairs despite the fact that he was a minister. But Eknath Shinde's son is neither a minister no an MLA," she said. "My sympathies with the Deputy CM of Maharashtra, for having made a joke out of the chair & himself for his hunger to be in power," Chaturvedi tweeted.

However, the Lok Sabha MP, who is the son of Eknath Shinde doused the controversy as he said it was a photo taken at their residence and he did not sit on any official chair designated for hs father. It was not even the official residence of the chief minister. It was their private residence-cum-office in Thane, he said.

Shrikant Shinde said the board seen behind him in the picture is a movable one and was brought there because of the chief minister's virtual meetings that he holds from his residence. "My father works for 18 to 20 hours a day unlike earlier chief ministers who sat in one place. My father is always on the move," he said. "Both the chief minister and I use this office to meet people and solve their issues. I wasn't at the chief minister's official residence or office. The official board is movable," he said.