Sri Sri Ravi Shankar gave us blessings in Guwahati: Shinde

Guruji said very good, keep doing the good work and you will succeed, CM remembers meeting from last year

First India Bureau

Jalna: Chief Minister

Eknath Shinde said on Thursday that spiritual leader Sri Sri Ravi Shankar had given him blessings and told him that he would succeed when he and other rebel Shiv Sena MLAs were camping in a Guwahati hotel. The CM was speaking at a farmers’ gathering organized by Ravi Shankar’s Art of Living Foundation at Watur village in central Jalna district. The spiritual leader was also present on the dais. In his speech, Shinde said that Sri Sri Ravi Shankar supports good work.

“Let me tell you something...when we were in Guwahati...,” he said. The mention of Guwahati evoked laughter from the audi- ence, forcing the CM to pause. “...then Gurudev-ji had given me blessings over the phone. We told him that we have launched a battle. He said very good, keep doing good work, you will succeed....Gurudev-ji supports those who are doing good work,” the CM said.

Shinde and a majority of Shiv Sena MLAs rebelled against Uddhav Thackeray’s leadership in June 2022. The rebel MLAs stayed in a hotel in Guwahati, more than 2,000 km away from Mumbai, for a week, triggering the fall of the Thackerayled Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government. Shinde formed the next government in the state in alliance with the BJP.

The chief minister also said that his government will actively support the Jaltara water conservation project of the Art of Living Foundation. He also claimed that the Marathwada water grid and other irrigation projects in central Maharashtra undertaken by the earlier BJP-Shiv Sena government were stopped by the MVA regime. “But now we have restarted these projects,” Shinde said.

After coming to power, his government allowed the resumption of all religious festivals which had been banned (on account of the coronavirus pandemic), the chief minister said. Festivals are necessary as they provide solace and mental peace, he added.