HomeHeadlinesShah again defends Fadnavis, says Ajit Pawar came to us with letter...

Shah again defends Fadnavis, says Ajit Pawar came to us with letter of support, denies slip up in ideology

Mumbai:

For the second instance, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Amit Shah had to defend his enfant terrible former chief minister Devendra Fadnavis. This time over the embarrassing misadventure of courting alleged “rebel” Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Ajit Pawar, for a three day political tango of government formation. Speaking to a private television news channel, Shah clarified “we never compromised on ideology. BJP did not go to him. Ajit Pawar came to us. No cases against Ajit Pawar have been dropped.”

The BJP president argued that the party was not misled by Ajit Pawar, and that it was the NCP which actually has damaged its public image of being the one who was trying to mislead. Shah also refuted the charge of horse-trading. In a lighter vein, he remarked that the Congress-NCP offered the Chief Ministers chair and in the bargain stole the entire stable of 56 horses. Shah pointed out that together, the Congress-NCP do not reach even the 100 mark.  

This is the second instance in recent times that the BJP president was forced to come out with a clarification. In the first instance was regarding Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray’s claim that he had promised sharing the Chief Ministers post. On this issue to Shah reiterated his earlier contention that there was no pre-poll alliance promise made of sharing the chief ministers post with the Sena.

Replying to queries over the Sena-BJP break-up, Shah stated that the two saffron parties were in pre-poll alliance. “We shared our votes and we got a clear majority together. The BJP won on 70 percent of the seats it contested. This mandate was for sitting Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis”, he added.

He once again argued that during the election rallies the Sena leadership never raised objections to Fadnavis being projected as the next chief minister. It was only after the assembly election results going by the numbers they started making their demands. Shah further disclosed that most of the Sena MLAs who won had put up huge cut-outs, banners and hoardings of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and sought votes.

Refuting the charge of diluting its ideology, Shah wanted to know as to what is the ideological meeting point of Congress, NCP and Shiv Sena. He sarcastically remarked that in the changed political circumstances Sena president Uddhav Thackeray dropped his announced visit to Ayodhya on November 23. The BJP president argued that the party has never diluted its stand on NRC, Citizenship Amendment Act, Article 370 or constructing the grand Lord Ram temple at Ayodhya.

Replying to queries over NCP chief Sharad Pawar claiming to be the fulcrum of anti-BJP forces, the BJP president pointed out that the BJP has got close to the majority mark which is a victory for it. The Congress-NCP offered the Chief Ministers post and took away the power. Denying that the Sena crossover to the opposite camp was a setback, Shah argued that the BJP has had a long experience of opposition politics.

Meanwhile, sounding as if he was straight out of a Kabaddi match, Ajit Pawar not only attended the NCP meeting at Y B Chavan Center, but also quipped “I was with the NCP. I am with NCP. Have they expelled me?” Arguing that he was very much with the NCP, the NCP leader remarked that Sena president Uddhav Thackeray will decide on the cabinet role for him. If that was not enough, sounding even more boisterous Sena leader Sanjay Raut remarked “don’t be surprised if Sena’s ‘Suryayaan’ lands in Delhi.”

Prashant Hamine
Prashant Hamine
News Editor - He has more than 25 years of experience in English journalism. He had worked with DNA, Free Press Journal and Afternoon Dispatch. He covers politics.

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