A war of words between the banker wife of Maharashtra's former chief minister Devendra Fadnavis and Shiv Sena deputy leader Priyanka Chaturvedi has become the latest talking point in state political circles.
It all began with a tweet by Amruta Fadnavis who attacked Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray while responding to her husband's tweet -- posted eight days ago -- to condemn Congress leader Rahul Gandhi over his "My name is not Rahul Savarkar" remark.
Fadnavis had said Rahul Gandhi was nowhere close to even a single deed of Hindutva ideologue Veer Savarkar.
Taking a cue from her husband's comment, Amruta Fadnavis on Sunday taunted the Shiv Sena president, saying one cannot be a 'Thackeray' just by putting Thackeray after his name.
"Very true @Dev_Fadnavis ji ! One cannot be a Thackeray also by just putting Thackeray surname after his name! One needs to be true, principled & should think for betterment of people & party members above his own family & power dynamics! @ShivSena @OfficeofUT," she tweeted.
Hitting back, Chaturvedi on Monday said Thackeray was living up to his name and Amruta Fadnavis, a professional banker, was missing the point.
"Yes he is living up to his surname, but you as usual missed the news -- promises fulfilled, principled commitment & working for welfare of his people -- farmer loan waiver, Rs 10 meal, CM office in every division," she tweeted.
"All this in a month of forming govt PS: Thankfully not into singing his own praises," Chaturvedi said, the sarcasm aimed at Amruta Fadnavis, who is s a trained classical singer, and has performed at various cultural and social events.
Earlier this month, a war of words erupted between Chaturvedi and Amruta Fadnavis on social media over media reports that the Uddhav Thackeray government was planning to cut down around 1,000 trees in Aurangabad to build a memorial for Bal Thackeray.
Amruta Fadnavis had posted a photograph of a newspaper report on the Shiv Sena's reported plan to cut the trees along with a tweet: "Hypocrisy is a disease! Get well soon @ShivSena! Tree cutting -- at ur convenience or allowing tree cutting only when you earn commission -- unpardonable sins!!"
She was referring to the Shiv Sena's opposition to the cutting of trees for the Metro Line 3 car shed at Mumbai's Aarey Colony over environmental concerns, and Uddhav Thackeray staying work on the structure in one of his first major decisions after taking over as the chief minister.
That was when Priyanka Chaturvedi pointedly told Amruta Fadnavis that "compulsive lying is a bigger disease" than hypocrisy.
"Ma'am, sorry to disappoint you but the truth is that not a single tree will be cut for the memorial, and the mayor has confirmed it too. Also, just to be clear, compulsive lying is a bigger disease, get well soon," she had then tweeted, questioning if the commission to cut trees was a "new policy measure" promoted by the Maharashtra BJP.
The Shiv Sena, Nationalist Congress Party and Congress formed the government in Maharashtra last month after the Thackeray-led party parted ways with pre-poll ally BJP over sharing the chief ministerial post.
