Autorickshaw outpaced Mercedes, says Shiv Sena leader

Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde took a dig at Shiv Sena President Uddhav Thackeray, saying that an autorickshaw has outpaced Mercedes in his past when he used to drive an autorickshaw to earn living.

Shinde said in Marathi that Autorickshaw outpaced Mercedes car because this is a government of the common man.

Shinde, whose rebellion against the Sena leadership with at least 40 MLAs led to the collapse of the MVA government last week, was taunted by some Sena leaders as an autorickshaw driver when he was leading the revolt.

In his initial days, Mr Shinde drove an autorickshaw to earn a living.

Eknath Shinde was sworn in as the chief minister on June 30 with BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis as his deputy, a day after Uddhav Thackeray resigned as the CM without taking the floor test.

Thackeray had reached Raj Bhavan driving a Mercedes car to submit his resignation to the Governor.

Mr Fadnavis had earlier taken a dig at Uddhav's son Aaditya Thackeray calling him a Mercedes baby who cannot appreciate the struggle of ''Karsevaks who had taken part in the agitation for the construction of Ram temple in Ayodhya in the early 1990s.

A day before, the Shinde government won the trust vote, with 164 MLAs voting for the motion of confidence and 99 siding with the MVA.