'Autorickshaw outpaced Mercedes car': Maharashtra CM Eknath Shinde's dig at Uddhav Thackeray

Apparently referring to his humble past when he used to drive an autorickshaw to earn living, Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Tuesday took a dig at Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray, saying an autorickshaw has outpaced Mercedes car. "Autorickshaw outpaced Mercedes (car)... Because this is a government of the common man," Shinde tweeted in Marathi. Shinde, whose rebellion against the Sena leadership with at least 40 MLAs led to the collapse of the Thackeray-led MVA government last week, was taunted as an "auto rickshaw driver" by some Sena leaders when he was leading the revolt.

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In his initial days, Shinde drove an auto rickshaw to earn a living. 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.

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 took 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.

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