While speaking to editors of Marathi daily Loksatta, Fadnavis said “I don’t regret it but we should not have formed such a government. This was a mistake.”
Former Chief Minister of Maharashtra and leader of opposition Devendra Fadnavis on Friday said that forming the short-lived government in 2019 with NCP leader and Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar was a “mistake” adding he “does not regret it”.
While speaking to editors of Marathi-daily Loksatta, Fadnavis said “I don’t regret it but we should not have formed such a government. This was a mistake.”
On November 23, 2019, amid hectic post-poll talks between the Shiv Sena, NCP, and Congress to form a non-BJP government in the state after the polls threw up a hung Assembly, Fadnavis and Pawar sprung up a surprise and were sworn-in at dawn in a ceremony at Raj Bhavan, the governor’s residence.
“Even if this (forming the government with Ajit Pawar) was a mistake, when you are stabbed in the back, you have to stay alive in politics,” referring to Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray and the fall-out between the two parties after an agreed pre-poll alliance.
The decision to form the government with Pawar was a result of “mixed feelings” which included anger, he said.
“So when an opportunity arose, we seized it. Now I can say that what we did was not at all liked by our supporters and the BJP supporters,” said Fadnavis, who is now the Leader of Opposition in the Assembly.
“I also agree that my image among our supporters got substantially dented. It would have been better had we not attempted what we did (forming the government with Ajit Pawar) but at that time I thought that was the right decision,” the former CM candidly admitted.
He also took a jibe at the current Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government after the recent confusion around the unlock in the state, the plans for which were disclosed first by cabinet Minister Vijay Wadettiwar, clarified subsequently by the CMO, and then officially released after a couple of days.
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He said that the state has one CM but many ‘super CMs’
“Officially, there is one CM, Uddhav Thackeray. But every minister in Congress and NCP feels that he is a super CM,” said the BJP leader, adding that every ally is trying to take credit for policies. “In any government, when a policy decision has to be announced, the government deputes one minister or official. Else, the CM announces the policy. But after every Cabinet meeting, we can see Congress, NCP, and Shiv Sena engaged in a credit war. This is amusing,” Fadnavis said.
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