Uddhav Thackeray said the tehsildar, who is the in-charge of the office, should occupy the seat (File)
Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray seemingly walked the talk on decentralisation of power when he got up and made a tehsildar (Revenue Department official) sit in his official chair in Sangli district, according to an official release.
Mr Thackeray had announced in the state legislature last year that he was in favour of decentralising power.
He had announced that "chief minister's offices" will be set up at the divisional levels across the state.
According to the release, the chief minister inaugurated the tehsil office at Walva in Islampur in Maharashtra's Sangli district recently and was surveying the new premises with Water Resources Minister Jayant Patil of the NCP.
The chief minister then entered the tehsildar's office and sat on the chair, it said. He, however, got up and brought tehsiladar Ravindra Sabnis near the chair.
"This is your chair, you sit here," the release quoted the chief minister telling mr Sabnis.
"The tehsildar told the chief minister that he cannot sit in the chair in the presence of the chief minister, district gaurdian minister Jayant Patil and the district collector," it said.
Uddhav Thackeray, however, told the tehsildar that he is the in-charge of the office and the building and should occupy the seat.