Mumbai, Sep 16 (PTI) Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and his deputy Eknath Shinde not visiting MNS president Raj Thackeray’s residence in Mumbai for Ganeshotsav this year in no way reduces the importance of Lord Ganesh, a party leader said on Wednesday.
Maharashtra Navnirman Sena leader Amit Thackeray, son of Raj Thackeray, said it was up to BJP leader Fadnavis and Shiv Sena president Shinde to decide how they want to take forward their old ties with the MNS head.
“It’s your prerogative on how to maintain your ties which used to happen in the past. You should ask them why did they not turn up. Their coming or not coming does not reduce the importance of God,” Amit Thackeray told reporters.
He was responding to a question as to why Fadnavis and Shinde did not visit ‘Shivtirth’, the residence of Raj Thackeray, this year to seek blessings of Lord Ganesh during the ongoing festival dedicated to the elephant-headed God.
Raj Thackeray, a BJP supporter-turned-critic, welcomes Lord Ganesh at his residence in the city’s Dadar area every year and both Fadnavis and Shinde have been regular visitors at his home for the annual festival, which began on Monday (September 14).
Notably, Amit Thackeray, who heads the MNS student wing, ordered the removal of a portrait of Prime Minister Narendra Modi from a government college in Pune late last month, inviting criticism from the ruling BJP. The Pune police subsequently registered a criminal case against Amit Thackeray. PTI PR RSY
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