Raosaheb DanveUnion minister and senior party leader Raosaheb Danve on Monday said the BJP will form the government in Maharashtra in next two to three months. He urged party workers to gear up and remain upbeat.
Danve, who is Union Minister of State for Consumer Affairs and Public Distribution, was addressing party workers in Parbhani as part of the campaign for the State Legislative Council polls in Aurangabad graduate constituency. BJP’s official candidate from Aurangabad graduate constituency is Shirish Boralkar.
“BJP workers should not think the party cannot form government in the state. BJP will come to power in Maharashtra in next two to three months. We have worked out the mathematics. We are waiting for graduate constituency polls to get over. Thereafter, the process for government formation will start,” Danve said.
Danve did not elaborate. But his remark has created a flutter within the organisation. However, several leaders, when contacted, refused to comment. A senior BJP functionary requesting anonymity said, “Mission Maharashtra is high on our agenda. We are not going to abandon it. But there are many factors and exact timing cannot be stated. Moreover, it is a fact that BJP with 105 seats out of 288 is number one party. The half-way mark is 145 seats. So any trigger within Maha Vikas Aghadi will be exploited to BJP’s advantage.”
Monday also marked the first anniversary of the 80-day-old BJP-NCP alliance government. It was on November 23 last year when Devendra Fadnavis secretly took oath as CM for the second time along with Ajit Pawar as deputy CM at Raj Bhawan in Mumbai. However, the government was short-lived after Pawar resigned.
Congress, NCP and Shiv Sena then joined hands to form MVA. Uddhav Thackeray took oath as CM on November 28 at Shivaji Park. Both state BJP president Chandrakant Patil and Opposition leader Devendra Fadnavis refused to comment on Danve’s statement. BJP general secretary Shrikant Bharatiya maintained, “Wait and watch.”
Earlier, Fadnavis said the development of Vidarbha, Marathwada and North Maharashtra was not on the agenda of the MVA government. The development model of the Shiv Sena-NCP-Congress alliance is limited to their own constituencies, he added. Fadnavis was addressing the media in Aurangabad during his campaign.