Amit Shah, who is on a two-day visit to the state, met CM Shinde, Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar at Sahaydri state guesthouse, where he is staying
Amit Shah being welcomed by CM Shinde upon his arrival in Mumbai on Sunday. Pic/PTI
Union Home Minister Amit Shah held a meeting with Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde as well as Deputy CMs Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar late Sunday night during his Mumbai visit, reported the PTI.
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Amit Shah, who is on a two-day visit to the state, met CM Shinde, Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar at Sahaydri state guesthouse, where he is staying.
BJP sources said the meeting was about the response to various government schemes ahead of assembly polls, which are likely to take place in October-November, according to the PTI.
Recent discordant statements from the CM Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) were also likely to be discussed, they added.
Amit Shah also visited some Ganpati mandals during the day.
Meanwhile, earlier, Amit Shah on Sunday said Parsis have made silent but immense contribution to India's development, and lauded the role of Gujarati newspaper Mumbai Samachar in that journey.
Speaking after releasing documentary film 'Mumbai Samachar- 200 Not Out', which chronicles the remarkable 200-year journey of Asia's oldest newspaper, Shah said the Camas, who run it, exemplify journalism of trust, as per the PTI.
"We must respect Parsi families like the Camas, who still speak Gujarati and run a newspaper in the language. I want to say to those who fight for the rights of minorities that if there is any true minority among minorities, then it is the Parsi community. Without ever struggling for rights, they have lived their lives focussing on their duties," Shah said, according to the PTI.
Without ever making any demand, they have contributed to every field, he added.
They did their duty in fields like governance, industry, Information Technology, fintech, atomic science as well as winning the war that gave birth to Bangladesh (an apparent reference to Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw), Shah added.
Amit Shah said his prayer was that all communities are like the Parsis, which without making demands went about contributing in a stellar way in various sectors that will never be forgotten by the country.
Speaking about Mumbai Samachar, which entered its 203rd year of publication, he said the newspaper has become an integral part of the identity of the country's financial capital.
Terming it as a trusted news organisation, he recalled an an old saying that everything printed in Mumbai Samachar is true.
Admitting that he learnt about the newspaper when Prime Minister Narendra Modi came here (in June) in connection with its bicentennial celebrations, Shah said,
"Dynasties don't last 200 years here but a newspaper has lasted for so long."
Lauding the feat, Shah underlined that it was more difficult for a regional newspaper to survive for such a long time.
It is probably the only (surviving) newspaper that reported on the death of Rani of Jhansi (on June 18, 1858) as well as cover PM Modi's oath-taking ceremony in 2014, Shah said to give the gathering an idea of the iconic daily's journey spanning many generations.
(with PTI inputs)