Kolhapur, May 24 (India Today): Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Saturday equated BJP chief Amit Shah to Lord Ram, saying Shah instilled confidence in the party's state unit in a similar fashion to the king of Ayodhya's attempts to apprise Lord Hanuman about his strength.

"After the split with Shiv Sena, we were not sure whether we will be able to snatch the reins of power from the Congress-NCP government. But Amit Shahji showed faith in the strength of Maharashtra BJP and encouraged us to go all out for the polls," said Fadnavis while addressing the state executive meeting held in Kolhapur.

"Just like Hanuman ji was unaware of his hidden strength, we also had no clue about our real strength," he said.

It was only after severing ties with the Shiv Sena that the Maharashtra BJP realised its true strength, Fadnavis added.

"We didn't know that we would have to go for the state Assembly elections without our ally (Shiv Sena). Three days before the polls, we called up Amit Shah ji to apprise him of the situation. Amit Shah ji told us that he will stand by whatever decision we take," Fadnavis said.