Fadnavis' tweet on Delhi Metro ride sparks row in Maharashtra

Mumbai: An innocuous tweet by BJP's Leader of Opposition Devendra Fadnavis taking a swipe at the Maharashtra government on the Mumbai Metro, ignited another war of words in the state on Thursday.

Late on Wednesday, Fadnavis took a ride on the Delhi Metro and posted his photos with a mocking comment on Twitter targeting the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) alliance government back home.

"I travelled in Delhi Metro today to return back to the airport and reached in a very short span as compared to travel by road!" Fadnavis tweeted.

He added: "Don't know when will I be able to travel in Mumbai Metro 3 to the airport, looking at the things messed up by the MVA on car shed issues."

The sarcasm was not lost on the ruling MVA partners - Shiv Sena, Nationalist Congress Party, and Congress which hit back vigorously and unitedly.

Maharashtra Congress spokesperson Sachin Sawant said he was glad that Fadnavis appreciated the "Delhi Metro, developed by the Congress government." "The only metro (in Mumbai) completed was also by the (erstwhile Congress-NCP) government. Your government could not meet 2019 deadline," Sawant said. The Congress leader assured that with vast experience in governance, "the MVA will surely do what your (BJP-led Fadnavis government) could not, if the hurdles created by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government are removed."

Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray's media advisor Harshal Pradhan cajoled Fadnavis to "feel proud of Maharashtra first" before lavishing praise on others. "You should feel proud that India's best CM (Thackeray) has saved and given a forest to Mumbai in Aarey Colony. We are a growing state with a visionary leadership. Be proud of the fastest developing state," Pradhan suggested.