Maharashtra's new CM Shinde to perform "traditional" pooja

Mumbai: Maharashtra's new Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, is all set to perform pooja at the Vitthal-Rukmini temple at Pandharpur on Sunday. Though the model conduct of municipal elections has come into force, Shinde will be performing the pooja with the State Election Commission (SEC) nod, PTI reported.

The chief minister performing the pooja `Ashadhi Ekadashi' at a temple in the Solapur district is a tradition. But this time, the elections' code of conduct created uncertainty in Shinde's participation in the pooja.

"As per the SEC's instructions, CM Shinde can perform the pooja without making any official announcements," Sanjeev Jadhav, additional district collector of Solapur, said.

The SEC on Friday announced the schedule for elections to more than 90 nagar parishads and nagar panchayats in the state, including those in the Solapur district.

Ashadhi Ekadashi -- the eleventh lunar day of the bright fortnight of the Hindu month of Ashadh -- marks the culmination of the `Wari' or pilgrimage on foot to Pandharpur, which lakhs of Vitthala devotees undertake every year.