Maharashtra CM, team pay ‘gratitude visit’ to Kamakhya Temple in Guwahati

Eknath Shinde and 39 other MLAs sought the deity’s blessings in July before forming the new government in alliance with the BJP

Guwahati/Mumbai

A 176-member team headed by Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Saturday paid a ”gratitude visit” to the Kamakhya temple in Guwahati.

The team included his ministers, MLAs, MPs and senior leaders of the Balasahebanchi Shiv Sena, who rebelled against Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddav Thackeray and toppled his 31-month-old Maha Vikas Aghadi government in June. Some leaders brought members of their families along.

“We came here to have a darshan of Maa Kamakhya as a mark of gratitude,” Mr. Shinde told journalists after visiting the temple atop Nilachal Hills in the afternoon.

The gratitude was for the formation of his government in alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party headed by Devendra Fadnavis five months ago. A week after camping in a high-end hotel in Guwahati, Mr. Shinde and 39 other rebel Shiv Sena and independent MLAs had sought the blessings of Goddess Kamakhya before returning to Maharashtra via Goa to form the new government.

“We came to Guwahati with our families to offer prayers to the Goddess on behalf of entire Maharashtra. Our prayers were heard and Mr. Shinde, our leader and true inheritor of Balasaheb’s ideals, became the Chief Minister,” a minister in the Shinde-Fadnavis cabinet said.

The team is scheduled to fly back to Mumbai on Sunday morning after attending a dinner party hosted by Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma.