News Analysis India

Tag: Fadnavis

  • Shiv Sena: Fadnavis told me in 2019 he will groom Aaditya as next CM and will move to Delhi: Uddhav Thackeray

    Mumbai: Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Uddhav Thackeray has claimed the then chief minister Devendra Fadnavis told him in 2019 that he would groom his son Aaditya Thackeray as the next CM of Maharashtra as part of the power-sharing agreement between their parties. Thackeray also said Fadnavis, a senior BJP leader, had told him that he would move to the Centre in the next two to three years. Addressing a rally in Dharavi on Saturday, Thackeray claimed the then BJP chief Amit Shah had come to ‘Matoshree’, the private residence of the Thackerays, to seek an alliance with Shiv Sena (undivided). “At that time, Fadnavis was made to sit outside the room of late Bal Thackeray while the two leaders (Shah and Thackeray) discussed modalities,” he claimed. It was assured to me that the post of chief minister will be shared for 2.5 years (between BJP and Sena-undivided), he said. AllUttar PradeshMaharashtraTamil NaduWest BengalBiharKarnatakaAndhra PradeshTelanganaKeralaMadhya PradeshRajasthanDelhiOther States”Later, Devendra Fadnavis told me, Uddhav Ji, I will groom Aaditya for 2.5 years. We can make him CM after 2.5 years. I told him (Fadnavis) that he (Aaditya) is just starting his electoral career. Do not put anything like this in his mind,” Thackeray said. When I asked Fadnavis how a senior leader like him would work under Aaditya, he (Fadnavis) said he would move to Delhi, the former CM added. The claim evoked a sharp reaction from Fadnavis, current deputy chief minister in the Mahayuti government of BJP, Shiv Sena led by Eknath Shinde and NCP led by Ajit Pawar, who said Thackeray has “lost his mind”. “Uddhav Thackeray has become ‘bhramishta’ (delirious). He is hallucinating. Initially, he said Amit Shah promised him a chief ministership in some room. Now he says I promised to make his son a CM. To hide one falsehood, another lie is being told,” Fadnavis said.

    He, however, admitted to having told Thackeray that Aaditya should be trained as he will eventually take control of the party (Shiv Sena) one day.

    “Leave alone making him (Aaditya) a chief minister, I wouldn’t make him even a minister. He (Aaditya) became a minister later (when MVA was in power) which landed the Shiv Sena (UBT) in its current situation today,” Fadnavis said.

    In his speech, Thackeray slammed Fadnavis for his reference to “some room” during his talks with Shah and said the room of Bal Thackeray is like a temple.

    Later Fadnavis posted on X, “We respect late Balasaheb Thackeray because he was always true to his word and never deviated from his ideals. We don’t respect those who sacrificed the ideals of the late leader.”

    “Who are you trying to fool by speaking imagined scripts? You are misleading yourself,” he stated while slamming Thackeray.

    Fadnavis further said that Maharashtra’s “socio-politics” and development is not a “Salim-Javed” script.

    “You have nothing to do with politics and development. So don’t try to get involved in such scripts. You will get a befitting reply,” he said.

    Chief Minister Eknath Shinde said there is a limit to speaking lies.

    “He (Uddhav) wanted to become chief minister. As he couldn’t become a CM when he was part of the Shiv Sena-BJP alliance, he switched sides,” Shinde told reporters, referring to Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (undivided) joining hands with the NCP (undivided) and the Congress after the 2019 assembly elections.

    Notably, a split engineered by Shinde led to the collapse of the Thackeray-led MVA government in June 2022.

  • COVID restrictions in Pune should be eased, says BJP leader Fadnavis

    By PTI

    PUNE: Restrictions on account of the COVID-19 pandemic in Pune should be relaxed as they are affecting businesses and commerce, BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis said here on Saturday.

    The trader community in the city and even employees of shopping malls have been demanding that shops and other establishments be allowed to remain open till 8 pm instead of 4 pm.

    “There should be strict restrictions in the cities where the infection positivity rate is above five per cent. But for the last one month, Pune’s positivity rate is below five per cent. The state government should relax restrictions. Businesses are already suffering losses,” the former chief minister told reporters here.

    Fadnavis, who visited the ongoing Metro construction work in the city, said around 60 per cent work has been completed.

    “Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM) work is a critical part of a Metro project. Pune metro has completed almost 100 per cent of three TBM works. I am hopeful that soon the entire work will be finished in time,” he said.

    On Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar flagging off a trial run of the Kothrud corridor of Metro, Fadnavis said he had no objection to that as Pawar is deputy CM and guardian minister of Pune.

    “But I hope that the inauguration of Pune Metro would take place at the hands of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. I am confident that Pawar will agree with me,” he said.

    The Pune Municipal Corporation has proposed a Neo Metro project too, Fadnavis said.

    “We can get around 80 per cent of funding for the project from the Union government. The PMC should send a proposal to the state government. We will secure funding from the Centre,” he said.

    About reports that Chandrakant Patil would be removed as state BJP chief, Fadnavis said these were baseless rumors and the party was happy with Patil’s work.

  • Will put coronavirus in Fadnavis’ mouth if I find it, says Shiv Sena MLA Sanjay Gaikwad

    By PTI
    BULDHANA: Amid the row over Remdesivir supply, Shiv Sena MLA Sanjay Gaikwad has said if he would have found the coronavirus, he would have it into the mouth of BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis, sparking protests by the opposition party here in Maharashtra.

    Former chief minister Fadnavis is being targeted by the ruling parties in Maharashtra for objecting to Mumbai police’s grilling of a pharma company’s top executive over alleged stocking of vials of Remdesivir, which is in high demand for treating COVID-19 patients.

    Talking to reporters here on Saturday, Gaikwad, who is an MLA from Buldhana, asked what would Fadnavis have done if he was the chief minister at this time of the pandemic.

    Rather than supporting the state ministers, BJP leaders are mocking them and looking at how this government (comprising the Shiv Sena, NCP and Congress) fails, he said.

    ALSO READ: Maha fight over ‘seizure’ of Remdesivir amidst COVID crisis

    “Hence, if I would have found the coronavirus, I would have put it into the mouth of Devendra Fadnavis,” he said.

    Gaikwad alleged that Fadnavis, and BJP leaders Pravin Darekar and Chandrakant Patil were doing petty politics over the pandemic and distribution of Remdesivir injections.

    The Centre asked Remdesivir manufacturing companies in Maharashtra not to supply the drug to the state.

    They are also not providing the required medical oxygen to Maharashtra, Gaikwad claimed.

    ALSO READ: Shiv Sena alleges bid to disturb law and health order

    They are providing Remdesivir injections to Gujarat and supplying 50,000 vials of the drug to that state free of cost from a BJP office in Maharashtra, while people are dying in Maharashtra, he charged.

    “Such low and petty politics is being done by the central government and Fadnavis,” he claimed.

    Is this the time to do politics? The Centre and Fadnavis should be shameful of their acts, he said.

    Following Gaikwad’s remarks, BJP workers staged protests at various places in Buldhana on Sunday and burnt the MLA’s effigies.

    Fadnavis on Sunday said he has not done anything wrong and was not afraid of any inquiry against him.