Mumbai, March 2 (IANS) The otherwise serious press conference by the Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Deputy Chief Ministers Eknath Shinde and Ajit Pawar on Sunday witnessed cracking of jokes and exchange of pleasantries among three of them.
The trigger was Shinde’s statement that although the MahaYuti government, after a landslide victory in the Assembly election is new but the team is old with the swapping of chairs by him and Fadnavis.
“The budget session of the state legislature is starting tomorrow. This is the second session of the grand alliance government and the first budget session of the new government after the assembly election. Only two of us (Eknath Shinde and Devendra Fadnavis) have swapped the chairs but Ajit Pawar’s chair (as the Deputy Chief Minister) is fixed,” said Shinde.
Even before Shinde could complete his sentence, Ajit Pawar took his mike in his hands and replied, “You (Eknath Shinde) could not protect your chair and keep your chair (of the Chief Minister’s post) fixed, what can I do about it.”
That led to a laughter in the auditorium as the trio also burst into laughter and enjoyed the moment.
Shinde, who headed the MahaYuti government between June 2022 and November 2024, was aspiring to continue as the chief minister after MahaYuti formed the government following its stellar performance.
However, Fadnavis, who joined Shinde’s government as the deputy chief minister at the directives of the party’s senior leadership, took over as the chief minister in the wake of the emergency of the BJP as the single largest party.
Shinde left with no choice but to join as the Deputy Chief Minister along with Ajit Pawar. In this contest, Shinde made his statement today reiterating that despite the change in posts, the MahaYuti is quite strong and united.
Fadnavis also came to Shinde’s support saying that they are working as a team to take Maharashtra forward. “Our chair is rotating one,” he said.
Shinde further said, “No matter how many breaking news you give, there will be no break between us. Cold war… cold war… is there anything?” he asked looking at Fadnavis.
After that, Shinde said: “What cold war? Everything is cold here. There is nothing between us. Our agenda is not to get a chair. Our agenda is not to get power or to achieve our own selfish interests. Our agenda is that what should the people of Maharashtra get. What did the people of Maharashtra get compared to what we got? This is a big issue. Therefore, there is a difference between the MahaYuti and the Maha Vikas Aghadi. I request you (media)to give the news after verification. It will be very good. It will improve our image among the public.”
“If there is any mistake, tell us. But tell us what good work the government has done. Also, please check and verify the allegations made by the opposition,” he suggested.
Shinde said that the government has already formed a special investigation team to probe allegations about a conspiracy during the previous Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government to “frame” Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and himself in a false case.
“There are some very sensational things. Those will also come to light after the investigation is over. But did we say anything about it? The truth will come out. We will not take action out of any sense of revenge. No matter how much majority we have, we will not play a vendetta politics,” he clarified.
–IANS
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