Maharashtra Deputy Chief Ministers Ajit Pawar and Devendra Fadnavis on Thursday lashed out at the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) for suggesting that they desired to occupy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde’s position.
Both Deputy CMs, at a government programme in Shirdi in Ahmednagar district, targeted the MVA, particularly the Congress whose leaders have been hinting that Ajit Pawar would soon replace Mr. Shinde as next CM of the State.
Remarking the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena- BJP-Ajit Pawar’s NCP faction ‘Mahayuti’ government as a strong force intent on development, Mr. Fadnavis said that both deputy chief ministers were “protecting CM Shinde” and not setting covetous eyes on his chair.
“Some people [Opposition] are saying that both Deputy CMs are eying the CM’s chair. Yes, we are eyeing the CM’s chair with an intent to protect Eknath Shinde. So that no one should dare to look at that chair with evil eyes. If you do, then both the Deputy CMs will not spare you,” Mr. Fadnavis said.
Stating that PM Modi would return again in 2024, Mr. Fadnavis took a jibe at NCP chief Sharad Pawar.
“The last time [after the 2019 Assembly election], I had said ‘I would return’… I can see that my statement still strikes fear in some people. I would like to tell this national leader [Sharad Pawar] that when I had said this, the people actually returned me [as Chief Minister] but others [alluding to Uddhav Thackeray] betrayed me,” Mr. Fadnavis said.
Meanwhile, Mr. Pawar’s nephew, rebel NCP leader Ajit Pawar, too, asserted that PM Modi would win the 2024 Lok Sabha election while targeting the opposition for its crooked politics.
“Recently, the Opposition triggered all sorts of unseemly speculation owing to Mr. Shinde’s ill-health. Here, you have a CM who works night and day and the Opposition keep playing its crooked games. This kind of politics will not help in Maharashtra’s progress,” said Mr. Ajit Pawar.
The Deputy CM was alluding to Congressman and Leader of Opposition (LoP) Vijay Wadettiwar’s recent remark that Mr. Shinde would be replaced by Mr. Pawar on ‘health grounds’.
Lavishing praise on the PM, Ajit Pawar, who joined the ruling Shinde-BJP government on July 2 with his rebel NCP faction, said: “Do you see any alternative to Mr. Modi ? Why can’t the Opposition accept it? Never mind the country, the whole world has accepted his leadership.”
Dismissing the Opposition INDIA bloc, Ajit Pawar further said that despite so many Opposition parties ganging together to defeat Mr. Modi, they would not succeed.
