Another setback for Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena faction as 32 corporators of Shiv Sena from Navi Mumbai extended their support to newly elected Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Thursday.
Suresh Kulkarni, a former Shiv Sena Corporator of Navi Mumbai, thanked CM Shinde and said, “"Eknath Shinde has stood by us whenever we need it and his style of working is attracting him and everyone else."
"We will be with him. He never declined anybody's phone call. Even if an ordinary party worker calls him up, he receives the call. It feels good," he added.
Last month, Eknath Shinde launched a rebellion against his own party with majority of MLAs siding with him, which led to the collapse of the MVA government led by Uddhav Thackeray.
On Thursday, Shinde formally took the charge of Chief Minister's Office (CMO) in the presence of Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis.
Shinde on Monday won the floor test in the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly on the last day of the two-day special session of the House. In the 288-member House, 164 MLAs voted for the motion of confidence, while 99 voted against it.
Shinde was sworn in as CM on June 30, a day after Uddhav Thackeray quit the top post. BJP's Devendra Fadnavis was sworn in as the deputy CM.
He was sworn in as the 20th chief minister of Maharashtra, while BJP stalwart Devendra Fadnavis took oath as the deputy CM.
