Many trying to defeat me but their dreams not being realised,' says Maharashtra CM Shinde

Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Wednesday said many are trying to checkmate him for the last year but their dreams are not being realised.Speaking in a video message for an event where grandmaster Viswanathan Anand was the guest, Shinde said he enjoys public trust.“Many are planning to checkmate me for the last year, but their dreams are not being realised. The opponents may use all their brains but I have the support and trust of people," Shinde said.

In politics, one has to fight many battles at the same time. Some use the manoeuvre of a camel (a piece in chess) and move diagonally, some use the moves of a horse and elephant and work to checkmate the other, the CM said. Today it is necessary for leaders like us to play chess to fight political opponents," Shinde said. Some people call us the grandmaster of politics after our revolution last year," Shinde said, referring to the revolt he led which culminated in the split of the Shiv Sena and fall of the Uddhav Thackeray government.He also termed his mentor and late Shiv Sena leader Anand Dighe the “grandmaster of Thane."

Speculation about Mr. Shinde and the fate of the rebel Shiv Sena camp, which had been swirling since Mr. Ajit Pawar’s startling induction to the ruling government on July 2, has intensified after Mr. Shinde’s two visits to Delhi in less than a week.On July 22, on occasion of Mr. Ajit Pawar’s 64th birthday, the NCP leader’s supporters put out banners and television advertisements hailing him as the next CM of the State.A tweet by Mr. Ajit Pawar’s close aide, NCP MLC Amol Mitkari that “the Ajit era had begun” further fuelled speculation on Mr. Ajit Pawar becoming the next CM of the State.