Fadnavis says BJP won’t go it alone in assembly polls, but at the same is in no mood to play second fiddle to Sena
Mumbai : BJP state president Devendra Fadnavis on Thursday categorically denied any chances of his party going to the assembly polls on their own. But, at the same time he made it clear that the BJP was in no mood to play second fiddle to the alliance partner Shiv Sena in the ensuing assembly polls.
He said, “BJP’s vote share in Lok Sabha polls has doubled, our strike rate is better, we have more number of assembly segments where we have a comfortable lead over our opponents and it is obvious that every political party would always want to expand its base. Hence, some party workers might have thought that we should go to polls on our own. But, our alliance with Sena is not merely an electoral alliance. We share an ideological base. So, the alliance would continue.”
During the concluding session of the two-day meeting of block-level office bearers, senior leader from Mumbai Madhu Chavan made an appeal to end the alliance with Sena. He said the alliance is restricting BJP’s growth. It is keeping BJP like ‘a bonsai’. A few other office-bearers also supported Chavan as they received an overwhelming response from the party cadre. Fadnavis expressed his displeasure, but said, we now know the mood of the party cadre and we shall resolve all the issues expressed by the workers with the alliance partners as and when discussions for seat-sharing begin.
The gathering also adopted two resolutions that tried to highlight misdeeds of the Congress-NCP alliance government in the state. Leader of opposition in Vidhan Parishad Vinod Tawde mooted a political proposal. He said the present government in the State has failed on all accounts. Sixteen ministers in the government have corruption charges against them, law and order situation in the state has completely deteriorated and the home minister appears to be helpless. He also targeted the government over the reservations on the basis of religion and the LBT. He accused the government of administrative paralysis. Leader of opposition in Vidhan Sabha Eknath Khadse mooted the proposal on agricultural issues. He said that the agricultural development in the state has completely stalled and suggested a host of measures to reverse the situation.
In the inaugural speech, Fadnavis appealed to party workers to work aggressively for the state elections. He said, making the BJP the number one party in the upcoming Maharashtra Assembly elections and taking the Mahayuti (the grand alliance of the BJP, Shiv Sena and RPI) to victory would be a real tribute to late Union Minister Gopinath Munde.
‘Acche Din’ will take some time: Gadkari
Senior BJP leader and Union Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari said during his concluding remarks that the ‘Acche Din’ might take some more time as a few long-term policies are being put in place. He also advised the state leadership to prepare a vision document for Maharashtra ahead of the polls and also asked the state BJP to support the Central government to turn the dismal situation in the country around within three months. “We are now in the ruling party and challenge is to behave responsibly,” he said. Gadkari also asked the party to avoid debate on who will be Chief Minister or ministers post-polls. “Only think about how to free Maharashtra from the Congress-NCP who have created a record in corrupt governance,” he said.
‘Acche Din’ does not mean ‘Fokat ke din’
While explaining the Central Government’s vision on subsidies, Leader of opposition in Vidhan Parishad Vinod Tawde said that ‘Acche Din’ does not mean ‘Fokat ke din’ or the ‘days of freebies’. He said, in our vision, ‘Acche Din’ would be when more people in a family will have full-time employment, the family business would earn more profit. He also appealed to party workers to take this vision to the masses effectively.
