Mumbai: Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Monday said there will be no power struggle in the coming days and that the Shiv Sena-BJP government led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde will continue its term. “I would have sat at home also if the party told me – the same party that made me the CM. Today I tell you that there will never be a struggle for power in this government, we will continue to cooperate. People taunt that this is ED’s work. The government is there. Yes, this is the ED government of Eknath Devendra,” the deputy CM said.
I would have sat at home also if the party had told me – the same party that made me the CM. Today I tell you that there will never be a struggle for power in this government, we will continue to cooperate. People taunt that this is ED’s government. Yes, this is Eknath Devendra’s ED Sarkar: Deputy CM pic.twitter.com/PywbbEtMsk— ANI (@ANI) 4 July 2022
Fadnavis made the remarks after Shinde won the trust vote proceedings in the state assembly. In the final tally with the division of votes, the government got 164 votes and the opposition got only 99 votes in the 288-member lower house.
Fadnavis also responded to trolls who mocked him for his “I will return” statement ahead of the 2019 state assembly elections. The former Chief Minister of Maharashtra said that he will not take revenge but will forgive such trollers.
I once said that I would come back. But when I said this, many people made fun of me. I have come back today and brought him (Eknath Shinde) with me. I will not take revenge on those who made fun of me. I will forgive him, not everything is taken seriously in politics: Devendra Fadnavis pic.twitter.com/UG7OjBjYq3— ANI (@ANI) 4 July 2022
Ahead of the Maharashtra Assembly elections in 2019, senior BJP leader and former CM Fadnavis said, “Main punha ye” (I will return), which had provoked several social media memes.
After the election, Shiv Sena broke ties with the BJP over the issue of sharing the chief minister’s post. The Shiv Sena then forged an alliance with the NCP and the Congress to form the government.
Last month, Shinde had started a rebellion against Shiv Sena. Most of the MLAs supported him, due to which the Maha Vikas Aghadi government led by Uddhav Thackeray fell.
On June 30, Shinde took oath as the Chief Minister of Maharashtra, while Fadnavis took oath as the Deputy CM. Speaking in the House on Monday, Fadnavis said, “I have been seriously trolled for my remark that ‘I will return’. I am going to take revenge by forgiving the trollers.
Everyone should be ready to listen the voice of opponents in politics. We have seen people being jailed for making and posting statements on social media. We must be prepared for those who speak against us. We should respond to criticism but in a proper way: Maharashtra Deputy CM pic.twitter.com/i9sTRbNKe4— ANI (@ANI) 4 July 2022
He also said that when some MLAs were voting (during the floor test), members of the opposition bench raised slogans of “ED, ED”.
“It is true that the new government has been formed by the ED, which is for Eknath and Devendra,” the BJP leader remarked.
Without naming former CM Uddhav Thackeray, Fadnavis claimed that Maharashtra has seen a “lack of availability of leadership” over the years. “But, there are two leaders (Shinde and myself) in the House, who will always be available to the people,” Fadnavis said.
This is the second major legislative victory of the Shinde government, which took oath on June 30 along with Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, in the last two days.
On Sunday, Mahagathbandhan candidate and BJP lawyer Rahul Narvekar was elected as the new president by defeating Shiv Sena candidate Rajan Salvi of Maha Vikas Aghadi by a comfortable margin.
Fadnavis congratulated Shiv Sena-BJP chief minister Shinde, a disciple of late Balasaheb Thackeray and Anand Dighe, for winning the trust vote with a huge margin.
The Speaker was elected after a trust vote for the Shinde-led government on the second day of the 2-day special session of the Assembly convened by Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari.