Almost three months after the collapse of the Maha Vikas Aghadi government and formation of the Shinde-Fadnavis government in Maharashtra, a veteran BJP leader and Higher and Technical Education Minister Chandrakant Patil on Friday made a major disclosure saying that the BJP was planning for change in the government since two and half years (practically since the MVA government was formed in November 2019). ‘’I was not crazy to repeatedly make statements for two and half years that our government will come. The plans were being made for it,’’ said Patil who is the Pune district guardian minister.
However, Shinde camp spokesman and School Education Minister Deepak Kesarkar has strongly rejected Patil’s claim saying that ‘’We had no planning and what happened was spontaneous.’’
‘’I wanted to keep the morale high of BJP workers and therefore was making a statement that the Maha Vikas Aghadi will collapse due to internal contradiction and the party will come back to power again. It was not easy to get 40 legislators to leave the party (Shiv Sena). The BJP was waiting for an opportunity. Finally, that time was reached and the MVA government collapsed,’’ said Patil who was then the state BJP chief.
‘’The decision taken by Shinde needs a lot of courage. We will not let him feel isolated,’’said Patil.
Patil’s disclosure is important when Thackeray faction and Shinde camp are engaged in a legal battle over the bow and arrow poll symbol and also on who is the real Shiv Sena. His statement came two days after both Uddhav Thackeray and Chief Minister Eknath Shinde addressed two separate rallies on the occasion of Dusserah and claimed that they were the real heirs of Balasaheb Thackeray. Interestingly, BJP, which is playing a second fiddle in the government, is happy that it has taught a lesson to Uddhav for breaking the alliance and joining hands with NCP and Congress.
Meanwhile, Patil also revealed that when he was sent to Pune to contest the 2019 assembly elections many people criticised. ‘’However, nominating me from the Kothrud assembly seat in Pune, Delhi (party leadership) had considered all factors,’’ he noted.
