Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Wednesday said that Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar had suggested President's Rule in the state soon after the 2019 Maharashtra assembly election when the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) emerged as the single largest party.
Speaking at the India Today Conclave Mumbai 2023 today, Fadnavis said the NCP supremo had approached the BJP and suggested a tie-up between his NCP and the BJP in order to form a government.
Fadnavis said when BJP’s ally Shiv Sena refused to back the party in forming a government, Pawar suggested that the President’s Rule be briefly imposed in the state so that the NCP cadre could be informed about joining hands with the BJP.
However, the NCP chief later backed out from the arrangement, he added.
Fadnavis further added that following this, he agreed to an alliance with Sharad Pawar’s nephew Ajit Pawar, and they took oath as chief minister and deputy chief minister, respectively, in November 2021.
This led to speculations about whether Sharad Pawar knew of the arrangement.
It is to be noted that the Fadnavis-Ajit Pawar alliance did not last long back then. Following which, in June last year, the BJP announced that it will support rebel Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shinde as the new Chief Minister. Fadnavis joined him as deputy CM.
Subsequently, Thackeray formed the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government, comprising the Shiv Sena (prior to its division), the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), and the Indian National Congress.
On July 2 this year, Ajit Pawar engineered a split within the Sharad Pawar-led party and joined the Shinde government as the Deputy Chief Minister. Additionally, eight other NCP leaders were also sworn in as ministers in the state cabinet.
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