Once again, Mahajan proved to be Fadnavis’s go-to man for handling any kind of emergency or trouble. In Fadnavis’s first term as CM, right from farmers’ protests to the Maratha agitation to the Kolhapur floods, Mahajan was sent to sort out things on the ground. Even during Shinde’s tenure as chief minister, whether it was Maratha activist Manoj Jarange Paril’s agitation or angry citizens halting suburban train services following the Badlapur sexual assault incident, Mahajan was his troubleshooter.

Party colleagues say Fadnavis trusts Mahajan since he is quick and has good negotiation skills. Significantly, in the third BJP-Sena government since 2014, Mahajan has not got a key portfolio, unlike the previous two governments. He has, however, managed to retain Fadnavis’s trust.

When ₹1.5 crore expenditure became ₹150 crore

As a special meeting of the state cabinet was planned on April 29 at Chondi in Ahilyanagar (formerly Ahmednagar) district, the government’s expenditure on the meeting became a talking point. The special cabinet meet was organised at Chondi, the birthplace of Maharani Ahilyadevi Holkar—a popular queen of the Maratha Malwa kingdom who is renowned for good governance, social work and building temples, ghats and other religious structures—on her 300th birth anniversary.

There were news reports that the state government was spending ₹150 crore on the state cabinet meeting. A tender advertisement for setting up a pandal as well as providing an air cooling system, CCTV surveillance and a fire-fighting system for the one-day meet quoted ₹150 crore, which shocked many in Mantralaya who pointed out that the cost should not be beyond a few crores.

The opposition Congress immediately demanded answers from the government regarding the expenditure. The government then clarified that the cost was supposed to be ₹1.5 crore, but the tender advertisement had an error and the wrong amount was quoted.

End of Raj-Shelar friendship?

Commenting on the speculation over Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray and MNS chief Raj Thackeray reuniting, cultural affairs minister and Mumbai BJP chief Ashish Shelar insisted that his friendship with Raj Thackeray was over.

“Please stop saying personal friend. He (Raj) was a personal friend, but that subject is over now. It is a political issue, and I will only say it is between the two of them (Thackeray brothers). They should decide,” Shelar said earlier this week when he was asked what he feels about the speculation since he has been a friend of Raj Thackeray.

The friendship of the two politicians was known in political circles. However, things have not exactly been cordial between them since the assembly elections. Raj Thackeray was angry with the BJP for not supporting his son Amit in his debut election from the Mahim constituency.

After initially supporting Amit, the BJP later said it would support alliance partner Shiv Sena. Amit lost the election. In MNS’ Gudhi Padwa rally, party leader Sandip Deshpande targeted Shelar, which came as a surprise for many in political circles. With Shelar’s latest remarks, it is clear that the two friends are bitter with each other now. So, does that mean their friendship is over? Well, one cannot be sure when it comes to politicians.

Shinde’s loose cannon

On Sunday, deputy chief minister Shinde had to publicly admonish his Buldhana MLA, Sanjay Gaikwad, for his remarks that the police force in the state was inefficient and not all officers were honest. His comments irked chief minister Fadnavis, who also heads the home department.

Fadnavis rang up Shinde and expressed his anguish. He advised that the latter should ask his MLA to watch his words. Shinde, in his rally at Buldhana, told Gaikwad to follow discipline and respect men in uniform.

This is not the first time the Buldhana MLA has embarrassed his party. Earlier, he had claimed that he had hunted a tiger and wore a tooth of the same tiger in a golden chain around his neck. In 2024, he was lambasted for announcing a reward of ₹11 lakh for chopping Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s tongue over the latter’s remarks on reservation. He had also invited controversy when a clip of him cutting a birthday cake with a sword had become viral.