BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis on Tuesday said that because of people’s love, he did not feel that he had ceased to be the chief minister of Maharashtra.
The remark drew reactions from Congress and the NCP which said he should come to terms with the reality.
The BJP leader was speaking at a public event in Navi Mumbai.
”People never made me feel that I am not the chief minister. I still feel that I am chief minister as I have been roaming in the state over the last two years. The love and affection of people has not receded,” said Fadnavis.
A person’s work is more important than his or her position, he added.
“I have not just sat at home. I am serving people and doing well as leader of the opposition (in the Assembly),” he said.
Reacting to Fadnavis’ remarks, state Congress spokesperson Atul Londhe said he should accept that people have `rejected’ him and his party.
“Fadnavis seems to be still attached to the chief minister’s post. He is still dreaming of the post. He needs to wake up from that dream soon,” the Congress leader said.
”He must accept that he is still leader of the opposition. People have rejected him and his party,” Londhe added.
State minister and NCP chief spokesperson Nawab Malik said BJP leaders were claiming for the last nearly two years that the Maha Vikas Aghadi government in Maharashtra would fall.
”It has been more than 22 months now. I think Fadnavis should come out of that mentality. And the post of leader of opposition is no less than that of CM. Now he should at least come out of the role of chief minister and assume the role of leader of opposition. People can be served through that way too,” Malik added. Fadnavis became the chief minister of Maharashtra after the 2014 elections and went on to complete a full term, something which no chief minister of the state had managed in the previous three decades.
After the Shiv Sena walked out of the alliance with the BJP after the 2019 polls, he forged a tie-up with a breakaway group of NCP MLAs led by Ajit Pawar and was sworn in as chief minister with Pawar as his deputy.
But this government lasted only for three days for want of the numbers and was replaced by an alliance of the Shiv Sena, NCP and Congress, headed by Uddhav Thackeray. (PTI)
