Eknath Shinde mentions his children who died, breaks down during Assembly speech
Mumbai (Maharashtra), June 4: Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde hailed the victory of his faction in the floor test of the Maharashtra Assembly on Monday and thanked Devendra Fadnavis for giving him the top post.
Speaking in the Assembly, Shinde stated, "I thank Devendra Fadnavis ji for giving me a chance to work as a minister in the previous government... I could work on Samruddhi Mahamarg project. He was to give the Deputy CM post to Shiv Sena also in 2019."
"We are Shivsainiks and we will always be Shivsainiks of Balasaheb and Anand Dighe. I want to remind you who was there and who got Balasaheb's voting banned for six years," the Maharashtra Chief Minister added.
"Initially, I was supposed to be made the Chief Minister in the MVA government... But later Ajit Dada (Ajit Pawar) or someone said that I should not be made the Chief Minister. I had no problem and I told Uddhav ji to go ahead, and that I was with him. I never eyed that post," Shinde said during his Assembly address.
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Shinde also referred to two of his children who had died and got emotional.
"They attacked my family...My father is alive, my mother died. I could not give much time to my parents. They would be asleep when I came and would go to work when I slept. I could not give much time to my son Shrikant. My two children died - at the time, Anand Dighe consoled me. I used to think, what is there to live for? I will stay with my family," the new Maha CM said.
Eknath Shinde lost two young children - an 11-year-old son and a 7-year-old daughter in 2000. His children drowned when a boat overturned.
On the final day of the two-day special session of the House, Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde won the key floor test. The motion of confidence was backed by 164 MLAs in the 288-member House, while it was opposed by 99. Three legislators did not vote, while 21 legislators were absent, including Congress's Ashok Chavan and Vijay Wadettiwar.
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-PTC News
