New Delhi: Amid an exodus of tourists from Kashmir following the terror attack in Pahalgam’s Baisaran, where 26 died, most of them tourists, a tussle broke out in Maharashtra between the allies of the ruling Mahayuti government over credit for bringing back tourists from the state in special flights. Notably, six of the deceased victims were from Maharashtra.First, Maharashtra CMO issued a statement late Thursday night that around 500 stranded tourists in Jammu and Kashmir from Maharashtra have been brought back home. “Following the terrorist attack in Pahalgam, special flights are being arranged on behalf of the state government, as per the instructions of Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, to safely bring back tourists from Maharashtra,” the statement read, adding that another special flight will on Friday to bring back around 232 tourists from Srinagar to Mumbai.Hours after the statement, deputy chief minister Eknath Shinde’s office released a statement saying Shiv Sena brought back 520 tourists from Srinagar to Mumbai in special flights, as reported by The Indian Express.“Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde himself went to Kashmir and tried to bring back as many tourists stranded there as possible. Accordingly, so far 520 tourists have returned to Mumbai in four flights arranged by the Shiv Sena,” it stated.“The first flight of a private company, Star Airlines, took off for Mumbai at 1 am (Thursday) carrying passengers from J&K. It brought 75 tourists to Mumbai. Meanwhile, 370 tourists returned to Mumbai in two Akasa Air flights that left Srinagar at 2 pm and 5 pm today (Thursday). One flight landed in Mumbai at 7 pm today and the second flight at around 9 pm. Special buses have been arranged by the Shiv Sena to take the returned passengers home,” the statement read.“With this, 520 passengers have been successfully brought to Mumbai safely by the Shiv Sena,” it added, as per the report.On Thursday, Shiv Sena also released a series of pictures and videos showing Eknath Shinde, who reached Srinagar on Wednesday night, facilitating the tourists as they take their return flight to Mumbai.Meanwhile, chief minister Devendra Fadnavis released a video, in which state cabinet minister Girish Mahajan, who was sent to Srinagar by the state government to coordinate efforts and bring back tourists from Maharashtra. In the video, Mahajan is seen speaking to the CM over a video call and speaking to the injured tourists who are being treated by doctors.While Mahajan was assigned to go to Srinagar on Wednesday morning, by evening Shinde also reached on a chartered flight, Express reported.Opposition leaders in Maharashtra have pegged it as a possible rift within the ruling alliance. “While Fadnavis asked Mahajan to go to J&K to coordinate efforts, Shinde also rushing to Srinagar unnecessarily shows the rift in the state government. At least during times like this, the politics of overshadowing each other should be kept aside,” said Shiv Sena (UBT) Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Raut as quoted by Express.The apparent rift between Fadnavis and Shinde has been speculated since a post-election scenario in which Shinde was believed to have felt wronged that he was denied the chief minister’s post in the Mahayuti alliance. Several other decisions did not go his way. According to a Hindustan Times report, Shinde has also seemingly avoided sharing the stage with Fadnavis on several occasions and has skipped many key meetings.