By PTI
MUMBAI: Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Friday said there was no “Super CM” in the present Eknath Shinde-led government.
Some opposition leaders have claimed that though Shinde is chief minister, it is Fadnavis who is calling the shots.
“There is no concept of super CM in the present government. We have only one chief minister and that is Eknath Shinde. We are working under his leadership. But some people can’t digest this. They should get used to be in the opposition now,” the BJP leader said, speaking to reporters here.
Fadnavis, who was chief minister of the BJP-led government from 2014 to 2019, had to accept the deputy CM’s post on the insistence of the party high command after the BJP backed Shiv Sena rebel Shinde for the top post.
To another question, Fadnavis said there was no need to read much into his visit to Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray earlier in the day.
“In Maharashtra, we have a culture of following political etiquette. He (Raj Thackeray) was unwell and I paid him a visit. What is so political about it?” the BJP leader said.
Hitting out at the previous Uddhav Thackeray-led government, Fadnavis said, “The last cabinet meeting of that government was convened after the Governor had asked it to prove its majority. The meeting was illegal and they took decisions to rename Aurangabad, Osmanabad cities and the Navi Mumbai Airport while on their way out. We will ratify the decisions in the next cabinet meeting because we are in majority.”
Meanwhile, the Maharashtra Congress on Friday said the Eknath Shinde government’s move to restore the pension scheme for political activists imprisoned during the Emergency, was a futile attempt by people who had no role to play in the freedom struggle to gain sympathy.
In a series of tweets, the Congress’ state unit spokesman Sachin Sawant said Shinde had remained a mute spectator to the decision, which was against the ideology of Shiv Sena founder Bal Thackeray, who had openly supported the Emergency.
“It is unfortunate that Shinde who speaks of taking forward Balasaheb’s legacy remains quiet over the decision,” Sawant said.
Shinde on Thursday restored the pension scheme, which was introduced by the Devendra Fadnavis government in 2018, and was later scrapped by the Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) dispensation in 2020.
The pension scheme is a futile attempt to belittle the contribution of freedom fighters and raise the importance of RSS.
The then RSS chief Balasaheb Deoras had also expressed willingness to support emergency, Sawant claimed in his tweet.
The Fadnavis government, which was in power between 2014 and 2019, had taken the decision to provide pension to activists, who had protested against the Emergency imposed by the then prime minister Indira Gandhi in 1975.
Union Minister Ramdas Athawale on Friday said he has demanded one ministerial berth for his outfit, the Republican Party of India, in the new Eknath Shinde-led Maharashtra government.
Athawale was speaking to reporters after he was unanimously elected as national president of the RPI (Athawale group) for three years at the national executive of the party.
The meeting was attended by 600 delegates from all over the country, he said.
He has demanded one ministerial post for the RPI, which is part of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA), the Union minister said.
His party, though, does not have a single MLA in the state.
Athawale welcomed the reduction of VAT on petrol and diesel in Maharashtra and supported the decision to build a Mumbai Metro car shed in Aarey Colony area which environmental groups are opposing.
“Forests can grow but metro is also important,” he said.
MUMBAI: Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Friday said there was no “Super CM” in the present Eknath Shinde-led government.
Some opposition leaders have claimed that though Shinde is chief minister, it is Fadnavis who is calling the shots.
“There is no concept of super CM in the present government. We have only one chief minister and that is Eknath Shinde. We are working under his leadership. But some people can’t digest this. They should get used to be in the opposition now,” the BJP leader said, speaking to reporters here.
Fadnavis, who was chief minister of the BJP-led government from 2014 to 2019, had to accept the deputy CM’s post on the insistence of the party high command after the BJP backed Shiv Sena rebel Shinde for the top post.
To another question, Fadnavis said there was no need to read much into his visit to Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray earlier in the day.
“In Maharashtra, we have a culture of following political etiquette. He (Raj Thackeray) was unwell and I paid him a visit. What is so political about it?” the BJP leader said.
Hitting out at the previous Uddhav Thackeray-led government, Fadnavis said, “The last cabinet meeting of that government was convened after the Governor had asked it to prove its majority. The meeting was illegal and they took decisions to rename Aurangabad, Osmanabad cities and the Navi Mumbai Airport while on their way out. We will ratify the decisions in the next cabinet meeting because we are in majority.”
Meanwhile, the Maharashtra Congress on Friday said the Eknath Shinde government’s move to restore the pension scheme for political activists imprisoned during the Emergency, was a futile attempt by people who had no role to play in the freedom struggle to gain sympathy.
In a series of tweets, the Congress’ state unit spokesman Sachin Sawant said Shinde had remained a mute spectator to the decision, which was against the ideology of Shiv Sena founder Bal Thackeray, who had openly supported the Emergency.
“It is unfortunate that Shinde who speaks of taking forward Balasaheb’s legacy remains quiet over the decision,” Sawant said.
Shinde on Thursday restored the pension scheme, which was introduced by the Devendra Fadnavis government in 2018, and was later scrapped by the Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) dispensation in 2020.
The pension scheme is a futile attempt to belittle the contribution of freedom fighters and raise the importance of RSS.
The then RSS chief Balasaheb Deoras had also expressed willingness to support emergency, Sawant claimed in his tweet.
The Fadnavis government, which was in power between 2014 and 2019, had taken the decision to provide pension to activists, who had protested against the Emergency imposed by the then prime minister Indira Gandhi in 1975.
Union Minister Ramdas Athawale on Friday said he has demanded one ministerial berth for his outfit, the Republican Party of India, in the new Eknath Shinde-led Maharashtra government.
Athawale was speaking to reporters after he was unanimously elected as national president of the RPI (Athawale group) for three years at the national executive of the party.
The meeting was attended by 600 delegates from all over the country, he said.
He has demanded one ministerial post for the RPI, which is part of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA), the Union minister said.
His party, though, does not have a single MLA in the state.
Athawale welcomed the reduction of VAT on petrol and diesel in Maharashtra and supported the decision to build a Mumbai Metro car shed in Aarey Colony area which environmental groups are opposing.
“Forests can grow but metro is also important,” he said.
