Lok Sabha elections 2024: He can't digest a common labourer becoming CM, says Eknath Shinde on Uddhav Thackeray's 'neech' remark

Maharashtra CM Eknath Shinde. Pic/Maharashtra CMO

Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde hit back at Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray for his alleged 'neech' remarks, saying "they can't digest if a common labourer becomes the CM", reported news agency ANI.

"Yesterday he (Uddhav Thackeray) said that Eknath Shinde is "neech". You abuse me by calling me "neech". If a farmer's son, a common labourer becomes the chief minister then you don't like it, you are unable to digest it," CM Eknath Shinde at an Lok Sabha elections 2024 rally in Buldhana.

"If you look at it, this is not an insult to me, it is an insult to all the farmers' sons, it is an insult to the mothers and sisters of the poor and it is an insult to the society from which I come," he added.

"I have faith that the people will respond to it through the ballot box on April 26," he asserted while appealing to people to vote for his party in the Lok Sabha elections 2024.

On April 21, Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, addressing the Vijay Sankalp Sabha in Nanded, Maharashtra, said that the people of the country are eager to make Modi ji the Prime Minister again.

"Vote for one candidate means vote for Modi ji. The people of the country are eager to make Modi ji the Prime Minister. PM Modi's leadership is shining in the nation as the sun shines upon this earth. This is a matter of great pride for us. Modi ji has tried to bring not only Ram Temple but Ram Rajya in this country. INDIA bloc is asking the country that we have Rahul, Sonia, Stalin, Kejriwal, what do you have? On this, the people of the country reply that we have a "Modi guarantee". The synonym of trust is 'Modi Guarantee'," he said.

Taking a dig at the Congress party, Shinde said that while PM Modi is working for the betterment of the country, Congress, on the other hand, is busy solving its internal issues, reported ANI.

The Lok Sabha elections 2024 for the five parliamentary seats in Maharashtra were held in the first phase of polling on April 19.

The state, with its 48 Lok Sabha seats, is the second-largest contributor to the lower house of Parliament after Uttar Pradesh.

In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP won 23 out of 25 contested seats, while the undivided Shiv Sena secured 18 out of 23 seats.

The undivided NCP, part of the opposition alliance, contested 19 seats and won four in 2019 Lok Sabha election. Following the split in the Shiva Sena 2022, the Eknath Shinde faction aligned with the BJP.

(With inputs from ANI)