'He Suggested President's Rule': Fadnavis Claims Sharad Pawar Wanted to Form Govt in Maha With BJP in 2019

Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis made a shocking claim that the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) had approached the BJP to form the government following the 2019 assembly elections days after the latter’s bitter fallout with one of its oldest allies Shiv Sena.

Fadnavis said Pawar, a key leader of the I.N.D.I.A. bloc, had suggested the president’s rule in Maharashtra for some time so that he could communicate the decision of the tie-up of NCP cadres.

However, Sharad Pawar later backed out of the tie-up, the BJP leader said at India Today conclave.

“Pawar’s consent had been taken before it was decided to go for the President’s Rule. Pawar told us that he could not take a decision to tie up with the BJP in a short period. Pawar said he would first tour the state and announce his decision to form a government with the BJP after convincing people. Pawar said he would need one month for it,” Fadnavis said.

Fadnavis said Uddhav Thackeray “backstabbed” the BJP following the Maharashtra polls in 2019.

When asked why Sharad Pawar’s nephew joined the Maharashtra government, the BJP leader said Ajit Pawar’s faction wanted to join the BJP and strengthen the Maharashtra government like Eknath Shinde, who rebelled against Uddhav Thackeray last year and later became the CM.

What Happened in 2019?

In the last Maharashtra assembly elections, the results of which were announced on October 24, 2019, the BJP won 105 of the 288 seats in the state. The Shiv Sena, which was in an alliance with the BJP, won 56 seats. However, Shiv Sena walked out of the alliance over the chief minister’s post.

Days later in one of the biggest political surprises in Maharashtra, the then Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari swore in Fadnavis as the chief minister and Ajit Pawar as deputy CM on November 23, 2019. However, the government fell after about 72 hours.

Later, Congress and NCP came together to support Shiv Sena and Uddhav Thackeray became the chief minister. The Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government fell last year after Eknath Shinde, along with 39 Sena MLAs, joined hands with the BJP to become the chief minister with Fadnavis as his deputy, Ajit Pawar broke away from NCP in July this year to be a part of the ruling coalition.

(With PTI inputs)