Eknath Shinde: Ek hain to safe hain slogan is to unite voters, enthuse them to vote and help avoid what happened in Lok Sabha polls

“See, the government cannot be run by only distributing money. We will not get into any competition on this. But helping the poor and bringing them into the mainstream is the job of the government and it is our task to bring them out of poverty and we will continue to do that,” he said.

With leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party raising slogans such as ‘batenge toh katenge’ and ‘ek hain toh safe hain’, Shinde defended the slogans of his alliance partners and saidit is being done to avoid what happened in the Lok Sabha polls, that it is important to unite voters and to enthuse them to come out and vote.

Unity is important for development and to motivate the cadre. We do not want a repetition in Vidhan Sabha of what we experienced during the Lok Sabha (elections)… We saw less percentage of voting and so it is being done to motivate the Mahayuti cadre though people are taking it in another way,” Shinde said.

“Prime Minister Modiji is saying that we should all be united. He has not taken the name of any religion or caste. He said ‘ek hain toh safe hain’ which means we all should be united and contest the polls by bringing all communities together and increase the voting percentage. We can increase it by coming together.”

He criticised the Congress for indulging in “casteist and communal politics by creating a divide” between people and for “creating a fake narrative of changing the Constitution and removing reservation”.

Taking on the Shiv Sena led by Uddhav Thackeray — the two factions are contesting against each other in 49 constituencies across the state — Shinde said that while he defeated them in the Lok Sabha elections with a better strike rate, it will get even better this election. “Iss chunav mein ab doodh ka doodh aur paani ka paani ho jayega as people are going to vote for those who work and not for those who sit at home. People need development and welfare schemes,” he said.