Eknath Shinde, Maharashtra’s deputy chief minister, issued a cryptic warning on Friday, urging detractors not to underestimate him amid whispers of a rift with Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis. Speaking to reporters in this bustling central Indian city, Shinde invoked his 2022 political maneuver that toppled the opposition-led government, a veiled reminder of his capacity to disrupt. “Don’t take me lightly,” he said, adding, “The hint is enough for those who understand.”

The remarks come as tensions simmer within Maharashtra’s ruling coalition, a fragile alliance of Shinde’s Shiv Sena faction, Fadnavis’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), and Ajit Pawar’s Nationalist Congress Party (NCP). After last year’s state elections, where the trio secured 232 of 288 seats, Shinde relinquished the chief minister’s post to Fadnavis, his former deputy, in a role reversal that has fueled speculation of discontent. Yet, later Friday at a party event in Gondia, Shinde dismissed talk of a “cold war,” insisting he, Fadnavis, and Pawar were a united front.

Signs of strain, however, are hard to ignore. Shinde skipped several of Fadnavis’s key meetings, including one on the 2027 Kumbh Mela preparations in Nashik, opting instead for a separate gathering sans BJP allies. After Fadnavis reviewed the industries department—led by a Shiv Sena minister—Shinde held his own session. Both he and Pawar established project monitoring cells, shadowing Fadnavis’s “war room,” while Shinde launched a medical aid unit, paralleling the chief minister’s relief fund.

Tensions flared when the Home Department, under Fadnavis, reduced security for 20 Shiv Sena lawmakers, a move tied to the 2022 party split Shinde orchestrated. Recent guardian minister reshuffles in Raigad and Nashik, later reversed, further stoked unease. Fadnavis downplayed the discord, defending Shinde’s aid cell as a public service echo of his own past efforts. For now, Shinde’s warning hangs in the air—a quiet threat from a man who once upended Maharashtra’s political order.