Devendra Fadnavis Calls for Unity Amid Mahayuti Discord
Mumbai: Admitting that lack of unity among the Mahayuti constituents, senior BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis on Saturday said that spokespersons of three parties — BJP, Shiv Sena and NCP — should stop planting stories in media. Urging his party colleagues to start anew for to win the state Assembly elections, Fadnavis said it was time to speak in one voice.
The BJP held a meeting in Mumbai where all party leaders urged Fadnavis to continue as the deputy chief minister. After the debacle in Lok Sabha polls, Fadnavis had accepted it responsibility and urged his party to relieve him from the DCM post.
Responding to his colleagues, Fadnavis said he did not make an emotional statement. “I have a clear road map and I wanted to work for the party organisation to implement it. I am not the one to run away. But I spoke to Amit Shah yesterday and he has told me to continue my work. I have already started doing my work and all of you should fulfill your responsibilities,” he said.
Fadnavis said that the Mahayuti should not work unitedly and not indulge in blame-game over the "poor performance" in Lok Sabha election in Maharashtra. He further said that he has also spoken to Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar regarding this.
Expressing unhappiness over a BJP legislator and Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena spokespersons making statements against each other, he said, “I have spoken to the CM over the need to stop spokespersons from planting stories against each other.”
Former MP Nilesh Rane had claimed that Shiv Sena minister Uday Samant did not give the lead from Ratnagiri assembly constituency for his father Narayan Rane in the Lok Sabha election. Rane’s statement created a rift among the BJP and Shiv Sena.
Addressing the party legislators at Mumbai BJP office on Saturday, Mr. Fadnavis said, “It is not time to raise a finger against each other. It is time to take everyone together. We should speak in one voice.”
He also said that there is no need to give a different analysis of the results. There are complaints from each political party of Mahayuti. The leaders of that political party need to understand them and resolve them.
The BJP has performed badly in the Lok Sabha election in Maharashtra, where its tally dropped drastically from 23 seats in 2019 to just nine seats. However, Fadnavis told the party leaders that the opposition won more seats by creating fake narratives, but Mahayuti can make a comeback as it got the lead in 133 out of 288 assembly segments in the Lok Sabha elections.