India, July 6 -- Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis has responded to the swirling speculation that began soon after six Shiv Sena (UBT) MPs last month defected to the ruling Shiv Sena led by deputy chief minister Eknath Shinde. The rumours said that Shinde could replace Fadnavis as CM in the coming days: Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray too had declared that 'Operation Tiger', the mission name for poaching on Sena (UBT) leaders, was actually 'Operation Fadnavis' under which Fadnavis could be shifted to Delhi and Shinde given his chair. Speaking at a function organised by news channel Mumbai Tak on Wednesday, Fadnavis sought to dismiss the speculations. "In the state where a party needs 147 to win a simple majority (in the assembly), we have 137 seats," he said. "Will the chief minister be from that party or any other party? The top leaders of the party (read BJP) will also naturally select someone from their own party as the CM. This is the reality and even Shinde knows this." Against the backdrop of Shinde's frequent Delhi trips, Fadnavis has been insisting that disputes within the alliance in Maharashtra will be solved locally. The CM's close aides have also been saying that Fadnavis will not be shifting to Delhi in the union cabinet reshuffle that is expected soon. Fadnavis himself has told several people in the ruling alliance that he will eventually shift to Delhi but not right now. Now, with his latest remarks, he has put a question mark on Shinde's efforts to get back the top job in Mantralaya. In its avowed aim to make the state a $5-trillion economy by 2047, the state government has formed three dedicated cells-ASPIRE, BEACON AND BRIDGE-in the finance department. According to a government resolution issued on Friday, the full forms of these acronyms are: Accessing Schemes and Planning for Inflows, Reforms and Expenditure (ASPIRE), Benchmarking Enterprise Accountability and Capital Oversight Network (BEACON) and Borrowing, Reforms, Investment and Debt Governance Entity (BRIDGE) to monitor debt and related work. A few consultants from outside the government will be hired for this work. Finance department officers in Mantralaya say the initiative is a good step since it has clearly spelt out the responsibilities of each cell, but they opine that it should not just turn into an exercise undertaken under the influence of corporate consultants. Almost every department in Mantralaya has consultants working on various plans and programmes though several ministers, and officers wonder whether this is helping the government. Following a series of defections from the Shiv Sena (UBT) to the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena, the Uddhav Thackeray-led party is abuzz with stories about some defectors who were tight-lipped about their plans in front of their colleagues or bosses until the last moment. A top Sena (UBT) leader said that one of the defectors was with him for almost the entire day outside Mumbai for party meetings. "While travelling back to Mumbai, he asked me, 'How do you trust people when there have been so many defections around you?'. I joked that I was getting used to it now. The irony was that the next morning, the same person joined the defector gang." Meanwhile, Kiran Ahir Shah, daughter of legislator Sachin Ahir, who joined the Shinde-led Sena last week, has defended her video posted on social media in which she defended her father's decision, saying that before judging him, it was important to understand his complete political journey. Kiran has contended that the posts and opportunities that the Sena (UBT) gave him were because he worked hard for the party. She also recounted how her father has been working long hours for the people and even sacrificed family life at times. After drawing flak for the errors in his speech in the condolence motion for legendary singer Asha Bhosale on June 22, assembly speaker Rahul Narwekar blamed the small font and unclear print for his gaffes. In response, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sushma Andhare last week sent a magnifying glass to Narwekar's office address by post. She also took a jibe at him in a social media post, advising him to update the ChatGPT software in his office....