On Monday, February 13, Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister and BJP senior leader Devendra Fadnavis reiterated his claims about the state’s political turmoil in 2019. Fadnavis disclosed at a TV-9 event that the three-day government created in Maharashtra in 2019 had the approval of NCP supremo Sharad Pawar. Notably, Devendra Fadnavis made a similar disclosure in 2019 that he reiterated on Monday.
He stated that Sharad Pawar recommended forming a coalition government with the NCP because they needed a stable government. Fadnavis went on to say that he and Ajit Pawar were only sworn in with Pawar’s approval. Sharad Pawar, on the other hand, has called Fadnavis’ claim fabricated and incorrect.
“I was sworn in as CM, along with Ajit Pawar as deputy CM. Let me tell you, it was not a secret operation, it had the consent of none other than Sharad Pawar for providing a stable government. The entire plan for the formation of a BJP-NCP government was discussed at length with Sharad Pawar,” Fadnavis said, referring to Ajit Pawar quitting the government 80 hours later.
“In all fairness, I want to state that Ajit Pawar took the oath with me with honesty… but later on their (NCP’s) strategy changed,” he added.
Former Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis stated that he was deceived twice when it came to forming the cabinet, first by Uddhav Thackeray and then by Sharad Pawar. “Uddhav Thackeray fought the election alongside us,” he remarked, adding that when Prime Minister Modi stated that Fadnavis will be re-elected as Chief Minister after the polls, Thackeray and other Shiv Sena and BJP officials welcomed the decision. “However, all of a sudden Thackeray felt that he could become Chief Minister and he stopped returning my calls. He then quickly changed sides and rushed to join hands with NCP and the Congress to become chief minister.”
“Uddhav Thackeray was in talks with Congress and the NCP. However, their discussions about forming a government together didn’t materialize, and that’s when the NCP proposed forming the government with us,” added Fadnavis.
Responding to Fadnavis’ remarks, Sharad Pawar said, “I felt that Devendra is a cultured person and a gentleman. I never felt that he will take recourse to falsehood and make such a statement.”
The 2019 political drama in Maharashtra
The BJP won 105 seats in the Maharashtra Assembly elections, which were held on October 24, 2019. The Shiv Sena, which partnered with the BJP, won 56 seats.
Uddhav Thackeray wanted the Chief Minister’s post for either his son Aditya Thackeray or himself. BJP had flatly refused and said repeatedly that giving the CM position to Sena was not discussed when the alliance was formed. Shiv Sena, in its desperation for power, then allied with Congress and NCP to become the CM of the state.
Meanwhile, on November 23, 2019, BJP and NCP joined hands to form the next government in the state, in a surprise move. BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis took oath as the state chief minister and Sharad Pawar’s nephew Ajit joined him as his deputy claiming the support of a faction of NCP MLAs.
What followed was a major confusion, with the Sena claiming that Ajit had backstabbed them, and the NCP claiming that no MLAs are in support of Ajit Pawar.
Three days later, ahead of the floor test, NCP’s Ajit Pawar suddenly resigned as Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra after which Uddhav Thackeray was sworn in as the chief minister.
Devendra Fadnavis reveals that Ajit Pawar had said Sharad Pawar knew of alliance
Notably, at the time, Sharad Pawar maintained that he had no knowledge of the collaboration in the state between Ajit Pawar and the BJP led by Devendra Fadnavis and had firmly distanced himself from the alliance.
However, in an interview with a TV channel, Devendra Fadnavis reiterated exactly what he said yesterday. He claimed that Ajit Pawar had told Fadnavis that Sharad Pawar knew of the alliance being entered into by Ajit Pawar. In fact, he has also added that most NCP MLAs knew about the alliance and Fadnavis himself had spoken to some of them.
