Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Tuesday hit out at his predecessor Uddhav Thackeray, saying that those criticising the present government's initiatives, themselves carried out "bogus work" during their dispensation's two-and-a-half year tenure.

He also said that the Bharatiya Janata Party's victory in the assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan has confirmed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will remain in power after the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

Shinde was speaking at the 'Shasan Aplya Dari' (government at your doorstep) initiative of his government at Parli in Maharashtra's Beed district. This initiative is aimed at giving benefits of government schemes to the citizens directly at their doorstep.

"The 'Shasan Aplya Dari' initiative is being called bogus by some people. But those who did bogus work during their tenure of two-and-a-half years are disrespecting those who are coming here to avail benefits of government schemes," he said.

"Those who operated from home for two-and-a-half years will not understand the pain of common people. They have fear of what will happen to them in the coming elections...But people will give appropriate answer to them. The results of recent assembly polls have confirmed the win of Narendra Modi in 2024," he added.

Deputy Chief Ministers Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar, BJP secretary Pankaja Munde and her cousin and Maharashtra minister Dhananjay Munde were also present on the occasion. Before coming to the event venue, all of them visited the memorial of former Union minister late Gopinath Munde to pay tributes.

"The government belongs to the common people and it is making efforts for the welfare of the state. We have launched many schemes. The previous government announced Rs 50,000 as encouragement to the farmers repaying loan regularly, but we gave that amount after our government was formed," CM Shinde said.

"Today we are giving the benefits worth Rs 749 crore. So far, 1.84 crore people have benefited through the Shasan Aplya Dari initiative," he said.

On the occasion, Fadnavis said the government aims to provide day-time uninterrupted power supply to farmers in the state.

The government has given revised administrative sanction for the projects in Marathwada, he said.

"We have also sent the proposal of Marathwada Water Grid project to the Centre. The work shall commence once the sanction is granted," he said.

Hitting out at Uddhav Thackeray, Fadnavis said, "We are called to neighbouring states for election campaigns. But they are not even called by their neighbours. This is their pain." Ajit Pawar, who leads a faction of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) that is currently in power in the state, talked about the steps initiated by the government to curb the water scarcity in the area.

"The government has initiated steps to bring water from the Arabian Sea for a project located in Marathwada. Though we have different ideologies, we are working together so that everyone in the state is benefited. We joined the government as we cannot just keep opposing it," he said.

Talking about the issue of reservation, he said, "There are demands from Marathas, OBCs and Dhangars. But it should be ensured that no differences crop up among these communities." Pankaja Munde said that the BJP governments in northern states implemented various schemes for the local people and resolved the problems of various communities.

"Therefore the BJP won assembly polls there. Schemes like the Ladli Behna Yojana (in Madhya Pradesh) should also be implemented in the state," she said.

Dhananjay Munde urged the state government to send a proposal to the Centre to include the Vaidyanath Jyotirlinga temple in Parli in the PRASAD (Pilgrimage Rejuvenation And Spiritual Augmentation Drive) scheme of the central government. The state government should also encourage the industries to come here, he said.

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