Devendra Fadnavis and Eknath Shinde’s tango over Pahalgam relief efforts

This presumably did not go down well with Deputy CM and Shiv Sena chief Eknath Shinde, who chalked out a separate plan for himself and his party as regards the six terror victims from Maharashtra. On Wednesday evening, Shinde took off for Srinagar, after deploying own Sena ministers for receiving the Kashmir returnees — Dada Bhuse, Gulabrao Patil and Yogesh Kadam at Mumbai airport, and Prakash Arbitkar at Pune.

Unlike Mahajan’s low-key visit, on a passenger plane, Shinde’s was well-publicised and on a special flight.

A senior BJP functionary said on the condition of anonymity, “This was a huge embarrassment for the government, as it showed cracks within the Mahayuti even in an hour of crisis.” The BJP leader added that the Opposition, in comparison, had displayed “much maturity”.

Sources in the BJP gave the example of the other Deputy CM, NCP chief Ajit Pawar who, they said, “is silently working and giving support to Fadnavis”. Pawar, who shares cordial relations with J&K CM Omar Abdullah, spoke to the latter over the phone.

A senior leader in the NCP also frowned upon Shinde’s move, saying: “It (terror) cannot be perceived as a state or political issue. Whether it is Shinde or Ajit Pawar, both can gain by sharing their inputs with the CM. You cannot have multiple fronts doing the same work.”

Questioned about his trip, when Mahajan was already in Srinagar on the state government’s behalf, Shinde said: “My objective was only to help tourists from Maharashtra, who were in fear after the terror attack, to reassure them personally, and to make adequate arrangements for their return home.”

He claimed that he had helped 70 tourists return to Mumbai on a special plane soon after reaching Srinagar, as well as made arrangements for two other flights on Thursday. An official statement from Shinde said, “A total of 183 people from Maharashtra will be going back to Mumbai Thursday evening.”

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— Eknath Shinde – एकनाथ शिंदे (@mieknathshinde) April 24, 2025

Sena leaders defended Shinde saying he had stepped in “because the BJP overlooked the alliance”. “Had the BJP taken all the alliance partners into confidence and given them specific roles to play, things would have been better. It would not have exposed the lack of coordination,” a Sena leader said.

It’s not the first time Shinde has acted publicly to express his unhappiness with the functioning of the Mahayuti government. The Sena believes the BJP has frequently sidelined Shinde at the expense of Ajit Pawar, from portfolios to the matter of files.

Criticising the power play between the BJP and Shiv Sena even in the face of a tragedy, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut mocked: “Is Shinde running a parallel government in Maharashtra? What prompted Shinde to visit Srinagar when, in such cases, it is the CM who oversees the administration and makes decisions?”