Nagpur: Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis on Sunday said Shiv Sena minister Sanjay Shirsat had made it clear that Sena was backing NCP’s Satish Chavan in the Aurangabad Graduates’ Constituency election, and that one person taking a different stand does not make it the party’s stand.Fadnavis, while speaking with the media in Nagpur, added that alliance party chiefs must ensure that their legislators don’t contradict the party line in public.There was apprehension earlier this week that Chavan, a three-time MLC from the constituency since 2008, might lose Sena support due to changing political equations in Amravati Teachers Constituency within Mahayuti. In Amravati, NCP MLC Sanjay Khodke and MLA Sulbha Khodke allegedly backed Dilip Kadu, the Vidarbha Madhyamik Shikshak Sangh candidate, against Sena’s sitting MLC Kiran Sarnaik.Social justice minister Shirsat on Saturday clarified that Sena stands with their allies. This came after NCP members from Amravati assured Mahayuti allies that they would support Sarnaik.Fadnavis said, “Minister Shirsat said very clearly yesterday that we are with Mahayuti and with Chavan. BJP has been working for him from day one. If one person takes a different stand, it is not considered the party’s stand.”Targeting the opposition, Fadnavis said, “I feel the Maha Vikas Aghadi has been very divided from the start and there is a lot of groupism in it. Today, we in BJP and Mahayuti are working as one team.”Separately, deputy CM Eknath Shinde appealed to teachers to back Sarnaik at a Mahayuti campaign meeting in Yavatmal on Sunday. Shinde said Legislative Council needed a representative who understood teachers’ problems and described Sarnaik as committed to the teaching community.On the long-pending Old Pension Scheme, Shinde said govt was serious about addressing teachers’ concerns. He added, “Once I give my word, I make every possible effort to fulfil it.”
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