MVA govt had directed then DGP to get me arrested, alleges Maharashtra deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis

NAGPUR: Deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis on Friday alleged that the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) had conspired to arrest him. “The then DGP Sanjay Pandey, who later became Mumbai police commissioner was told by his masters to do anything to put me in jail. I knew about it,” he said in the council during the discussions on last-week resolution on Friday, the last day of the state legislature’s winter session.
Chief minister Eknath Shinde endorsed Fadnavis in the assembly but did not name Pandey. After his retirement, Pandey faced the heat from the central agencies. He was first summoned by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) over allegations of money laundering and then by the CBI for allegedly tapping phones.
Both the leaders refused to reveal the date of long-awaited cabinet expansion stating that they “would do it soon”.
While interacting with the media after the conclusion session, Fadnavis targeted Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray stating that “those who attended session for 46 mins shouldn’t talk about democratic values”.
“They accused the government of murdering democracy but stayed in the upper house for only 46 minutes. We provided answers to all their issues in both houses,” said Fadnavis.
Stating that both houses satisfactorily completed works despite boycotts by the opposition, Fadnavis thanked CM Eknath Shinde for allowing the session to be held in Vidarbha after three years. “We want to thank the opposition as well as they too participated in the discussions after initial disruptions. The working hours were stretched till 11.30 pm in the last few days for completion of work. Many important decisions were taken for the region’s development.”
Shinde, who accompanied Fadnavis, said this session would never have been held in Vidarbha, if the government had not changed. “They would have not conducted the session here citing precarious situations in countries like China and Japan due to Covid-19 virus. We tried our best to remove the backlog of this region in these ten days. We have given Rs 15k per hectare bonus to the farmers, even though there was no demand made by the opposition. We would also be expediting work on Nagpur-Goa economic corridor, which we have named as ‘Shaktipeeth’. Efforts are also being made to revive statutory development boards,” he said.
On opposition leader Ajit Pawar’s indirect warning to state BJP president Chandrashekhar Bawankule, Fadnavis said the former was scared of losing the vote bank in his constituency. “Pawar was miffed by Bawankule’s visit there. Our Mission Baramati or rather Mission Maharashtra is still on. NCP MP Supriya Sule won very narrowly in 2014 Lok Sabha polls from the constituency,” he said.