India, Jan. 24 -- Deputy chief minister and Shiv Sena president Eknath Shinde on Friday announced a slew of welfare programmes to mark the birth centenary of party founder Balasaheb Thackeray on January 23, even as the Maharashtra government continues to grapple with strained finances amid rising welfare commitments.

Shinde, who heads the Shiv Sena faction that split from the Uddhav Thackeray-led party in June 2022 and later formed the government with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), garlanded Thackeray's statue in Colaba and addressed a press conference at Balasaheb Bhavan near Mantralaya. Recalling his political journey from a shakha pramukh (branch head) to chief minister, Shinde reiterated his claim of leading the "real Shiv Sena"....