‘Ek(Nath) hain to safe hain’: Shiv Sena leader tweaks PM Modi’s slogan to pitch for Shinde as Maharashtra chief minister | India News – Times of India

NEW DELHI: The Shiv Sena on Tuesday gave an interesting tweak to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s election slogan “Ek hain to safe hain” as it continued with its strong pitch for Eknath Shinde as the next chief minister of Maharashtra.
Sena leader Manisha Kayande tweaked the popular slogan to write on X “Ek(Nath) hai to safe hain” – suggesting that the ruling Mahayuti of BJP, Shiv Sena and the NCP is safe under Eknath Shinde. The Sena is insisting that Shinde should be allowed to continue as the chief minister after ruling Mahayuti’s spectacular victory in the just concluded assembly elections.

Prime Minister Modi, who used the slogan “Ek hain to safe hain” extensively during his election campaign to counter the opposition attacks, claimed after the results that “Ek hain to safe hain” has become the new maha-mantra of the country. “After Haryana, the biggest message of this election is unity. ‘Ek hain toh safe hain’ has become the ‘maha-mantra’ of the country,” the Prime Minister had said in his victory message to BJP workers.
The Shiv Sena, which won 57 seats in the just-concluded assembly elections, has been pushing for continuity at the top stressing that it was Shinde as chief minister who led the coalition and helped it win such a massive mandate. The party has also cited some exit poll surveys to claim that Shinde is the most popular leader for the top job.
However, the BJP, which scripted its best-ever performance in Maharashtra winning 132 seats – only 13 less than simple majority in the 288-member assembly, is firm that its leader Devendra Fadnavis will be the next chief minister of the state.
In 2022, when the BJP joined hands with the Shinde Sena after the fall of the Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi government, Eknath was made the chief minister and Fadnavis was asked to work as his deputy in a surprising move. After a strong performance in the assembly elections, the Shiv Sena wants this arrangement to continue irrespective of the numbers. Some Sena leaders have cited the Bihar model to justify their demand. In Bihar, Nitish Kumar is the chief minister of NDA government despite his party JD(U) having less number of seats than the BJP.
The Mahayuti of BJP, Shiv Sena and NCP did not project any CM face ahead of the assembly elections. When asked about the coalition’s CM face ahead of elections, Union home minister Amit Shah had said that the three allies would sit together after the results were out and decide on the next chief minister. With the BJP needing just 13 MLAs to cross the half-way mark, its clear that none of the allies can dictate terms to the saffron party.
Earlier today, Shinde formally resigned as chief minister ahead of the formation of new Mahayuti government in the state and was asked by Maharashtra governor to continue as caretaker CM.