Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, who was on a visit to Guwahati in Assam along with his party MLAs and MPs, announced that Maharashtra Bhavan will be built in Guwahati. He also approved his Assam counterpart Himanta Biswa Sarma’s request for setting up Assam Bhavan in Navi Mumbai.
“CM Shinde has approved Sarma’s request for the construction of the Assam Bhavan in Navi Mumbai, while the Assam government will provide land to set up Maharashtra Bhavan in the northeastern state,” said an official, requesting anonymity. The meeting between the two state CMs took place on Sunday morning when they discussed strengthening cooperation between the two states in the field of industries, trade and tourism. Meanwhile, Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut said that Assam Bhavan already exists in Navi Mumbai and while every state wants land here, Maharashtra does not have a place in other states. Shinde along with his MLAs, MPs and other leaders is on a two-day visit to Guwahati.
The CM’s visit comes five months after he along with supporting MLAs had gone to Guwahati when they raised a rebellion against Uddhav Thackeray and formed an alliance with BJP.Shinde met Sarma in the same hotel in Guwahati where he and other rebel MLAs stayed for 11 days before toppling the Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government. Shinde, his ministers and MPs along with their families visited Kamakhya Devi temple on Saturday and later also attended a get-together with Sarma. They returned to the state on Sunday. The CM thanked Sarma for his support during the power struggle in Maharashtra and invited Sarma to Maharashtra.
During Shinde’s visit to Assam, the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Mandal, started by the Marathi-speaking gazetted officers serving in Assam, met the CM and requested the construction of a Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Sanskritik Bhavan in the state, which the CM accepted. The CM also announced the appointment of State Ports and Mines Minister Dadaji Bhuse as special coordinator for this work. Shinde said that industries minister Uday Samant will try to increase the industrial relations between Assam and Maharashtra.
