Hours after Uddhav Thackeray took oath as the Chief Minister of Maharashtra, ally-turned-political rival Devendra Fadnavis seemed just as eager to fill the opposition leader's shoes. Taking to Twitter, Devendra Fadnavis, who resigned from the chief minister's post in the state, pointed out some regions in Maharashtra have remained untouched by development and that he hopes the new government pays attention to such regions.
"While the new government has made many announcements in its common minimum programme, regions like Vidarbha, Marathwada and North Maharashtra that have remained untouched by development year after year finds scant mention in the document. I can only hope that the new government pays attention to these regions too," Devendra Fadnavis tweeted in Marathi.
Vidarbha, Marathwada and North Maharashtra suffer from severe water scarcity during the summer months, resulting in droughts that often drive its farmers to suicide.
Farmers, however, received assistance through the common minimum programme which was prepared by the new Shiv Sena-Congress-NCP government, ahead of the swearing-in ceremony.
In the document, the Uddhav Thackeray government resolved to adopt several measures to alleviate the situation of farmers, such as establishing a "sustainable water supply system" for drought-affected areas; ensuring remunerative prices for agricultural produce; revising the crop insurance scheme to ensure immediate compensation for those who have lost their crops; and waiving loans to provide immediate relief to farmers.
Earlier in the day, a joint press conference addressed by Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shinde along with the NCP's Jayant Patil and Nawab Malik had cited "farmer issues" as one of the main priorities of the coalition government.
Uddhav Thackeray had held his first cabinet meeting at the Sahyadri Guest House in Mumbai, soon after his swearing-in ceremony.
"We don't just want to make announcements for farmer upliftment, we want to take implement measures to ensure it happens," he told reporters later.
The BJP, which had emerged as the single-largest party in the Maharashtra assembly elections last month, could not form its government in the state due to a disagreement with former ally Shiv Sena over its demand for the chief minister's post on a rotational basis.
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