Mumbai: Uddhav Thackeray flags off a 'winged' Deccan Queen

Shiv Sena leaders were the only netas at the event. All coaches of the Deccan Queen have been covered with photographs of the area around Boldhalkasa hill resort near Gondia as a part of the MTDC initiative

My eyes are on the clock dials and I will not allow the train to get delayed," Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray said seemingly hinting at the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) whose symbol is the clock, as he flagged the iconic Deccan Queen train from Mumbai CSMT on Saturday. It was Thackeray's first visit to Mumbai CSMT to inaugurate bird sanctuary photographs on the legendary train as a part of a Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation (MTDC) event. With no other political party representative present, it turned out be a Shiv Sena event.

A photographer at heart, Thackeray said such photos of Maharashtra's pride should be put up on all national trains to promote tourism in the state. The railway station was decked up with a red carpet and had tight security. His son and Worli MLA Aaditya Thackeray and Sena ministers Subhash Desai and Eknath Shinde were present on stage along with Thackeray's personal assistant Milind Narvekar.

He said such positive changes should not be on the surface level only, and that the Maharashtra State Transport buses and railway trains were lifeline of the state. All coaches of the Deccan Queen have been covered with photographs of the area around Boldhalkasa hill resort near Gondia as a part of the MTDC initiative.

In answer to the question why Bodhalkasa resort in Gondia is being marketed heavily, the managing director of MTDC Abhimanyu Kale had told mid-day that it was the latest in the line of hill resorts that the MTDC offered and theirs was an aggressive effort to encourage and promote bird watching and at Bodhalkasa one can spot many species through the year.

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