No competition among Mahayuti partners over CM’s post: Fadnavis

Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, who is leading the BJP’s campaign for the Maharashtra Assembly elections, on Tuesday claimed that the Mahayuti comprising the BJP, Shiv Sena, and NCP will form the government, and the decision about the next chief minister will be taken jointly by the BJP’s delegation led by the party’s national president, along with Shiv Sena chief leader Eknath Shinde and NCP national president Ajit Pawar.

Fadnavis clarified that at present, Shinde is the chief minister, and under his leadership, the Mahayuti is contesting the Assembly elections.

Fadnavis made it clear that there is no competition among the Mahayuti partners over the chief minister’s post.

“We are getting good support from many parts of Maharashtra. I say this not with overconfidence but with all my heart. The public is with us because of the development work we have done and the various schemes we have come up with over a period of two-and-a-half years.

“People have seen both how the Maha Vikas Aghadi government functioned and how our government functioned in Maharashtra. So I believe that people are with us and they will vote for Mahayuti,” said Fadnavis before launching his statewide rallies from Tuesday.

Fadnavis, along with Eknath Shinde and deputy CM Ajit Pawar, along with other partners, will on Tuesday jointly launch the Mahayuti’s election campaign from Kolhapur.

Fadnavis targeted the MVA, comprising the Congress, Shiv Sena (UBT), and NCP (SP), for its criticism of the ambitious Ladki Bahin Yojana, saying that the opposition declared that the scheme would be closed after the elections and some of them approached the court against it.

“However, it is of no use. If we are proposing a scheme in our budget, will we not finance it?” he asked, countering the MVA’s criticism about the sustainability of the implementation of the Ladki Bahin Yojana and a slew of other such welfare and development schemes.

Fadnavis blamed the MVA for accusing the Mahayuti government of falling behind in the state’s contribution to the GDP. He claimed that Maharashtra’s progress was affected during the MVA government, and during the Mahayuti government, the state’s contribution to the GDP increased.

“The opposition is trying to spread a narrative based on incomplete information,” he claimed.

“Maharashtra continues to be on top among other states to attract investments as it attracts 52 per cent of total investments coming to India. The opposition’s charge of flight of investment to Gujarat is incorrect and far from reality. During the Maha Vikas Aghadi government, investors chose Gujarat and not during the Mahayuti’s rule. After the Mahayuti government came back to power, the investment flow has shot up. Instead of properly checking the facts, the opposition is criticizing the Mahayuti government,” said Fadnavis.