Will never abandon hindutva, says Uddhav Thackeray

MUMBAI: Senior Congress MLA Nana Patole was on Sunday elected Speaker of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly. Pro tem speaker Dilip Walse Patil made the announcement after BJP candidate Kisan Kathore withdrew his nomination earlier in the day.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray told the Legislative Assembly that he would never abandon the ideology of Hindutva. “I am still with the ideology of Hindutva which cannot be separated from me,” he said while addressing the special session. His remarks come on the heels of Shiv Sena-NCPCongress combine mentioning the word “secular” in the preamble of its Common Minimum Programme (CMP).

On the issue of Cabinet formation, Uddhav said his government may allocate portfolios temporarily, leaving room for a reshuffle later. “We would start to allocate portfolios as soon as possible, we are also thinking of allocating portfolios temporarily to the ministers, including me and we can later on expand the Cabinet.”


A Congress leader said decision on the portfolios to be shared by each party has not been finalised yet. Sources said Cabinet expansion may take place only after the winter session.

Meanwhile, the Maharashtra chief minister also said that his administration would review all projects sanctioned by the erstwhile Devendra Fadnavis government. Responding to a question on whether his government would present a white paper on the government’s finances, Uddhav said, “Equations have changed, we have formed a new government. We have decided to take a review of all the projects taken up by the previous government. I am trying to understand the expenditure on proposed projects and when they are going to be completed.”