Devendra Fadnavis had attended Uddhav Thackeray's oath ceremony on Thursday. (File photo)
If Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray dived into his new role as the Maharashtra Chief Minister right after his oath ceremony on Thursday evening, ally-turned-political rival Devendra Fadnavis seemed just as eager to fill the opposition leader's shoes.
"While the new government has made many announcements in its common minimum programme, regions like Vidarbha, Marathwada and North Maharashtra that have remained untouched by development year after year finds scant mention in the document. I can only hope that the new government pays attention to these regions too," the former Chief Minister tweeted hours after witnessing Uddhav Thackeray being anointed as his successor at a bustling Shivaji Park.
Vidarbha, Marathwada and North Maharashtra suffer from severe water scarcity during the summer months, resulting in droughts that often drive its farmers to suicide. The common minimum programme prepared by the new Shiv Sena-Congress-NCP government ahead of the swearing-in ceremony did dwell on ways to assist farmers with floods and drought, even if it did not specifically name the regions in question.
In the document, the Uddhav Thackeray government resolved to adopt several measures to alleviate the situation of farmers, such as establishing a "sustainable water supply system" for drought-affected areas; ensuring remunerative prices for agricultural produce; revising the crop insurance scheme to ensure immediate compensation for those who have lost their crops; and waiving loans to provide immediate relief to farmers.
Earlier on Thursday, a joint press conference addressed by Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shinde along with the NCP's Jayant Patil and Nawab Malik had cited "farmer issues" as one of the main priorities of the coalition government.
Immediately after the swearing-in ceremony, Uddhav Thackeray held his first cabinet meeting at the Sahyadri Guest House in Mumbai. "We don't just want to make announcements for uplifting farmers, we want to take implement measures to ensure it happens," he told reporters later.
The BJP, which had emerged as the single-largest party in the Maharashtra assembly elections last month, could not form its government in the state due to a disagreement with former ally Shiv Sena over its demand for the chief minister's post on a rotational basis. A political battle of wits followed, culminating in Uddhav Thackeray joining hands with the rival Congress-NCP combine and finally forming an unlikely coalition government with him at the helm.