Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia on Monday said Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde was taking forward the legacy of Shiv Sena founder late Bal Thackeray and the people of that state were with him.

He was speaking a couple of days after the Election Commission declared Shinde's faction as the real Shiv Sena and allowed it the use of the bow and arrow symbol, which dealt a blow to Uddhav Thackeray whose father founded the outfit in 1966.

"Shinde is taking forward the legacy of Balasaheb Thackeray. The people of Maharashtra are with him and the BJP-Shiv Sena government there," he told reporters on Sunday night.

Scindia also said the double engine governments (of Shinde and the Narendra Modi dispensation at the Centre) were ensuring Maharashtra was one again focused on development.

Shinde's rebellion in June last year brought down the Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi. Shinde became CM with the support of the Bharatiya Janata Party.

Scindia supported the new excise policy of the state and said there must be restrictions on liquor consumption so that the distress caused by alcoholism can be curbed.

"Liquor is a disease that completely finishes a man and, therefore, it is necessary to restrict its use. Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has taken a historic step in this direction. It has been taken in the interest of all, especially women," Scindia said.

Speaking on local issues, the Union Civil Aviation minister said various projects are underway in Gwalior, which will bring about rapid development in the region in the next couple of years.

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