Mumbai: Former Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Sunday faced the wrath of Shiv Sena supporters when he visited Shivaji Park to pay respect to Sena patriarch Bal Thackeray on his seventh death anniversary on Sunday. Sena supporters shouted, “mi punha yein” (I will be back), mocking the slogan he had made during a campaign for the Vidhan Sabha polls.
Workers of the Shiv Sena, standing close to the former CM’s convoy, shouted in Marathi Fadnavis’ Assembly poll campaign slogan: ‘I will be back’ along with the Sena’s traditional ‘Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj ki jai’ war cry.
Other BJP leaders, including Vinod Tawde and Pankaja Munde, accompanied Mr Fadnavis on this occasion. He, however, left the venue without reacting to the jeers. Mr Fadnavis also did not speak to the media.
Mr Tawde, who was a minister in the Fadnavis cabinet, said, “Late Balasaheb was like the head of the family for the Sena and BJP alliance.”
Fadnavis had earlier tweeted a video containing some of the late Sena patriarch’s rousing speeches and had added his voice-over as a tribute. The clips of Thackeray’s speeches he had chosen were about maintaining ‘honour and pride.’
