Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, who was accompanied by his deputy Devendra Fadnavis, on Saturday junked his former boss and Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray’s demand for mid-term elections in Maharashtra saying that the Shiv Sena-BJP government, which was formed on June 30, will complete its two and half years smoothly and will work for the common man. He claimed the Shiv Sena-BJP government, which has a majority with 164 legislators, should have come to the power after the assembly elections in 2019 but Thackeray decided to join hands with NCP and Congress which were always opposed by Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray.
Shinde, who along with Fadnavis, met Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and BJP President JP Nadda, said that the Shiv Sena MLAs who broke off from the Thackeray camp had tried to persuade former Chief Minister and Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray "three to four times" to go with "natural ally" BJP. ‘’Several Sena legislators were upset with the Maha Vikas Aghadi alliance and had unsuccessfully tried several times to speak to Thackeray about it before launching an all-out rebellion,’’ he added.
Shinde also refuted the allegations by Thackeray and Sanjay Raut that those 50 legislators in his camp were lured by money. ‘’What 50 Khokas? (Rs 50 crore). They have come together as they were feeling suffocated in the MVA government,’’ he noted.
Shinde reiterated that the MLAs backing him are the real Shiv Sena. "We have the numbers and have been recognised by the assembly speaker," he said.
On the heated dispute over who gets to use the party symbol, he said they have faith in the judiciary. "We are Shiv Sena and haven't done anything illegal. We have been recognised as the Legislative party," he added.
Shinde also refuted charges that BJP can go to any extent to be in power. "I have 50 MLAs, BJP has 115. People anticipated that the Chief Minister will be from the BJP," he said. "Can people now say the same thing about the BJP? They can't. A small worker like me got a chance to be the Chief Minister," he added. He showered paise on Fadnavis and credited him for the formation of Shiv Sena-BJP government in Maharashtra.
He alleged that Uddhav Thackeray neglected Bal Thackeray's Hindutva while the BJP supported it.
Fadnavis expressed support and commitment to making the new government successful. ‘’My party made me the Chief Minister earlier, now as per the need of the party, we have abided by the party's decision. Eknath Shinde is our leader and CM. We'll work under him. The injustice was undone and our natural alliance was revived," he said.
"It has nothing to do with having a big heart. I follow all the instructions of our leaders. I am with Shinde. We will work under him very well," he said. Shinde had earlier thanked Fadnavis for having a big heart and giving him the top job even when the BJP had most MLAs.
"Shiv Sena is of Balasaheb Thackeray and we are in alliance with Balasaheb's Shiv Sena," Mr Fadnavis added.
Cabinet Expansion
Shinde said that the cabinet expansion will be done only after he performs Ashadhi Ekadasi Puja at Pandharpur as he and DCM after returning to Mumbai will later hold talks. He hinted that the cabinet expansion will be done before the monsoon session which is expected to be postponed beyond July 18 as the voting for the Presidential election will take place on that day.
Fadnavis said that the duo during their meeting with Shah, which went on from 9.30 pm to 2.30 pm on Friday night, did not discuss the portfolio allocation between BJP and the Shinde camp. He also said that he and the CM will discuss it in the coming week.
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