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Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis to News18: “Last five years were full of struggle…Shinde ji was not angry…We all do hard bargains…The three of us saw some interesting memes together.”
Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis said the three parties were on the same page. (PTI File)
Maharashtra chief minister (CM) Devendra Fadnavisin an exclusive interview with CNN-News18 after taking the oath on Thursday, elaborated on the working style of his deputies – Shinde Sena’s Eknath Shinde and Nationalist Congress Party’s (NCP) Ajit Pawar.
“Shinde ji is emotional in nature. Ajit dada does practical politics. I have connected with both,” said Fadnavis, adding, “For 2.5 years, we worked very hard with Eknath Shinde ji and Ajit Pawar dada. But it was like a roller coaster ride…”
Fadnavis said as there are three parties in the government, they need to discuss and decide on issues. “There was no inordinate delay in formation of government…I don’t think Shinde ji was angry on any issue. There was one faction that wanted Shinde ji to become Coordination committee chairman. There was no anger. During our meeting in Delhi, he had conceded that as the BJP has more MLAs, the CM should be from the party,” said Fadnavis.
On the buzz that Shinde was not keen on being the deputy, Fadnavis said, “If a party chief is outside [the government]the party can’t run properly. I made Shinde ji understand this…Meanwhile, the three of us saw some interesting memes together.”
According to Fadnavis, no political deal is easy. “We all do hard bargains.”
Commenting on the portfolio allocation, Fadnavis said, “We will sit together and decide. Even if its home ministry or any other, we will all sit and decide.”
The CM said that the decision on the opposition leader is in the hands of the speaker. “If the speaker appoints a leader of opposition, we will not go against it.
Recounting the last five years, he said, “I had never thought about being the CM again…I just wanted to bring back the government The last five years were full of challenges. Even after getting mandate in 2019, Uddhav Thackeray ji backstabbed us. We fought for 2.5 years and all our allies stayed with us.”
🔸We reached Mantralaya after taking the oath and offered humble floral tributes and took blessings of our greatest King Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, Rajmata Jijau MaSaheb, BharatRatna Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar, Krantijyoti Savitribai Phule, and Constitution’s Preamble. During this… pic.twitter.com/NKOp5gQFaZ— Devendra Fadnavis (@Dev_Fadnavis) December 5, 2024
“The people of Maharashtra are with Modi ji since 2014. In the Lok Sabha elections, a narrative went against us. We were not fully prepared for it…But opposition’s attack helped me gain natural sympathy. People realised that for every other reason, Fadnavis was being attacked…After LS elections, there was a question mark on Ajit dada too. But he performed,” he said.
Reacting to the row around the invite, Fadnavis said, “The card was made according to rules. There was the name of CM and deputy CMs… In case of government ads, too, the SC has made some rules. We can only have the images of the PM and CM…Balasaheb Thackeray is in our hearts. We don’t need images to show our love.”
