Maha govt will walk in footsteps of Shivaji: Uddhav

Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Thursday said his government will run the state in the same way as Chhatrapati Shivaji did.

Thackeray was addressing a gathering after visiting the Shivneri Fort, birthplace of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, in Pune district where he paid tributes to the Maratha warrior king and his mother Rajmata Jijabai.

"I know that the chief minister of Maharashtra means the chief minister of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj's Maharashtra, so the functioning has to be the way Shivaji Maharaj used to do, because this state belongs to the poor, common people, farmers and women," he said.

Thackeray said he got the responsibility of the top post due to the blessings of Shivaji Maharaj and his mother.

"All of you remember that same time last year, I came here and collected a handful of soil from the fort and took it to Ayodhya. Believe it or not, exactly after one year, we received good results," he said.

"This responsibility (of CM's post) which I have got, it was also unexpected. This means it was a blessing of Shivaji Maharaj and Rajamata Jijau," he said.

He said he has sought blessings of Jijau and Shivaji Maharaj to try and create a Maharashtra of people's expectations, so that everybody will be proud of the state.

Thackeray also said that a local MLA requested him to rename Junnar tehsil in Pune district as 'Shivneri'.

Earlier, the chief minister along with his wife Rashmi Thackeray and son Aaditya Thackeray offered prayers to their family deity at the Ekvira Devi temple near Lonavla hill town in Pune.