Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Tuesday asked his party's workers to get ready to defeat rival Shiv Sena (UBT) in the upcoming civic elections after giving it a body blow in the last year's assembly polls.
Shinde, who heads the ruling Shiv Sena, rejected speculations of a "cold war" in the BJP-led Mahayuti government and asserted the ruling coalition was focused on development of Mumbai and the rest of Maharashtra.
Addressing office-bearers of his party, the deputy CM said they along with workers should ensure that benefits of policies and programmes launched by the government in the last two-and-a-half years reach people.
Every civic ward should have Shiv Sainiks and a 'shakha' (party branch), he told the gathering.
"We gave a shock and body blow (to Shiv Sena-UBT) in the assembly polls and now we have to do the same in the civic polls. The Shiv Sena has to grow," Shinde emphasised.
Schedule for the civic polls, including the all-important Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), is yet to be announced.
At the event, the deputy CM inducted several Shiv Sena (UBT) office-bearers into his party's fold.
Shinde said when elections are round the corner, some parties speak of conspiracy to break Mumbai from Maharashtra.
"No one can break Mumbai from the state. Our government is expediting pending development works and cluster development. We work for people and not post or power," he asserted.
Without naming former CM Uddhav Thackeray, who heads the opposition Shiv Sena (UBT), Shinde said," The Shiv Sena split (in June 2022) because of the lure of chief minister's post. You started considering your colleagues as your servants. A party can't grow in such a manner."
"We are at war with those who are anti-development," he said, adding Prime Minister Narendra Modi has fulfilled Shiv Sena founder Bal Thackeray's dream of building a grand Ram Mandir in Ayodhya and abrogating Article 370, which provided special status to Jammu and Kashmir.