MUMBAI: Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Sunday re-established himself as the only chief ministerial face of the alliance in the state amidst talk that the next chief minister could come from the Shiv Sena.
“I’m as much a chief minister of the Shiv Sena as that of the BJP, because both the parties are in alliance. I’ve already made it clear that I’ll be back as the Chief Minister to serve the state. I’ll be back as not just the BJP’s Chief Minister but, I shall be Shiv Sena’s CM… RPI’s CM… RSP’s CM… everybody’s CM,” Fadnavis said as he spoke at the concluding session of the special extended state working committee session of the Maharashtra BJP.
While hitting out at the leaders, from the Shiv Sena as well as the BJP, who have been making statements about who would be the next chief minister, Fadnavis told party workers: “Don’t get distracted by who says what or what the media says. Several leaders with our alliance partner make pointless statements every day. We have some similar people in our party as well. Hence, the best policy would be to ignore them.”
Apart from enumerating the achievements of his government over past five years, Fadnavis put forth the dream of “Maharashtra with a trillion dollar economy” as the election agenda.“Trillion dollar economy means employment for all. It means housing for all. It means excelling in education and sports, as
well as industry and agriculture,” Fadnavis said while painting a rosy picture of the state’s development.
Justifying the influx of leaders from other parties, Fadnavis said, “The politics has changed to an extent that one has to either join the BJP or quit politics.
There is no other way left. And hence party workers should be open to accept people who are joining the party with an open heart and believe in ideology.”
The chief minister asked the party workers to face the elections with a “very clear mind”.“Don’t bare any confusion regarding the alliance. We shall contest the polls in alliance with all the constituents of the NDA,” he said.
The Shiv Sena and the BJP appear to be competing to attract more
voters to their fold ahead of Assembly polls with Yuva Sena chief Aditya Thackeray and Devendra Fadnavis both undertaking statewide tours.