A day after the formation of a new government in Maharashtra, the state BJP chief Chandrakant Patil on Friday said that there was nothing unexpected about Devendra Fadnavis becoming Maharashtra's Deputy Chief Minister. He also said that newly appointed Chief Minister Eknath Shinde himself asked Fadnavis to join his cabinet and after which the latter asked the party's central leadership for their permission.
"I am aware that many people were shocked by the events yesterday. But there was nothing unexpected in what happened with Devendra Fadnavis," Patil said.
"BJP decided to support Shinde for CM's post for taking the Hindutva ideology ahead. But Shinde himself asked Fadnavis to join his cabinet. So Fadnavis asked our leaders in Delhi for permission," he said.
Patil heaped praise over Fadnavis saying, ‘’You need a truly large heart to work under a person who was your junior earlier."
‘’Even though BJP is the single largest party and also enjoys support from few independents and smaller parties, Fadnavis showed greatness of mind and gave up the CM’s post. The new government would function smoothly. Fadnavis accepted the post of Deputy Chief Minister. The BJP is proud of his sacrifice as he has set an example of following the party discipline for all party workers,’’ said Patil.
Patil’s statement is important as a large number of Fadnavis supporters are unhappy over the central leadership’s decision to direct him to take over as the DCM despite he had ruled the state as the CM between 2014 and 2019. Some of the legislators were criticizing the home minister Amit Shah for clipping Fadnavis’ wings.
Patil said that the Maha Vikas Aghadi government lost its majority after Shiv Sena MLAs took a clear stand on the issue of Hindutva. The BJP then took the initiative to provide an alternative government. ‘’Hindutva is the breath and focus of the BJP. Therefore, the BJP supported Eknath Shinde, a Shiv Sainik who fought for Hindutva, as well as a disciple of Shiv Sena chief Balasaheb Thackeray and Dharmaveer Anand Dighe, for the Chief Minister's post. Despite the strength of 113 legislators, BJP left the CM’s post for Hindutva,’’ he noted.
He said that the people gave a clear majority to the BJP-Shiv Sena alliance formed on the basis of Hindutva in the 2019 Assembly elections. However , the Shiv Sena leadership left Hindutva for the Chief Minister's post and joined hands with the parties that appeased the minorities. ‘’During MVA’s two and a half year rule, Hindutva was in crisis and development work came to a standstill. In such a situation, after the collapse of the alliance government due to internal strife, the BJP took the initiative to provide an alternative,’’ he added.
Patil said that the new government under the leadership of Shinde and Fadnavis will speed up the development work of the state and make the common man proud.
