Maharashtra's Leader of Opposition and former Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Tuesday claimed that NCP chief Sharad Pawar considered an alliance with BJP and had initiated talks after it parted ways with the Shiv Sena in 2019 after the Maharashtra assembly elections.
“When we realised Shiv Sena is breaking alliance with us, we looked for options and then we got an offer from Sharad Pawar and not Ajit Pawar,” said the former CM, while talking to Marathi journalist Raju Parulekar in an interview. The former CM also claimed Sharad Pawar later changed his mind and cornered BJP in Maharashtra.
Fadnavis said that NCP chief considered the alliance with BJP as he was against the alliance of 3 parties considering its stability. He said, “After denial by Sharad Pawar, one day, Ajit Pawar came to us and said that government consisting of 3 parties (INC, Shiv Sena, NCP) will be unstable and thus for the benefit of Maharashtra he is ready to form the government with BJP.” "After that we formed our government," added the leader of opposition.
Fadnavis also justified the formation of the government with Ajit Pawar in November 2019. The former CM went on to say that if the Supreme Court’s decision had not gone against them (he and Ajit Pawar), they would have run the government successfully.
The former CM also spoke about Shiv Sena and reiterated that the BJP never promised Shiv Sena a two-and-a-half year term as chief minister. He also said that the issues between BJP and Sena could have been sorted out but Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray did not even speak with him during those days.
In a stunning turn of events, Fadnavis had on November 23 returned as chief minister propped up by Ajit Pawar, who was made his deputy. Both were sworn in a hush-hush early morning ceremony but the government lasted only 78 hours.
