Fadnavis says BJP will form govt again, Pawar vows to stop it

It is going to be Devendra Fadnavis versus Sharad Pawar as the political battle between the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) is expected to escalate in the coming days

It is going to be Devendra Fadnavis versus Sharad Pawar as the political battle between the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) is expected to escalate in the coming days.

Sharad Pawar met a group of eight young MLAs from the three ruling parties at his residence on Thursday. HT File

After BJP leader and former chief minister Fadnavis said on Thursday that the party would form the government in the state on its own, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Pawar on Thursday evening vowed to not let the BJP return to power again.

Pawar met a group of eight young MLAs from the three ruling parties – Shiv Sena, NCP and Congress - at his residence. Pawar reportedly told them that they need not worry (about the results of Assembly polls in five states) and he would not allow the BJP to come back to power in Maharashtra.

The MLAs discussed various issues with Pawar, including the results of Assembly polls in five states, action against MVA leaders by Central agencies, and their strategy to win the next election. Pawar reportedly asked the young legislators to tour the state and plan well for the next poll.

“There are many good virtues that are needed to be learnt from BJP leaders. Marketing skills, poll strategy, and the vigor to do politics round the clock should be adopted by the young legislators. The MLAs need to be dedicated in the social and cooperation field,” Pawar said, according to one of the MLAs who attended the meeting.

The young and first-time MLAs who met him were Aditi Tatkare, Ashutosh Kale, Rohit Pawar, Indraneel Naik, Atul Benke (all from NCP), Ruturaj Patil, Dhiraj Deshmukh (both from Congress), and Yogesh Kadam (from Sena).

Tatkare, a junior minister in the MVA government and an MLA from Shrivardhan in Raigad district, said, “He guided us about what should the priority area be and where we should emphasise upon politically. He asked us to travel more and take the performance of the MVA government to the people. While speaking about the election results in five states, especially in UP, he said the political scenario kept changing from time to time and it was evident in the 1977 general elections too. It was very useful to us.” She refused to speak on the ‘contentious’ issues discussed at the meeting.

The BJP hit back at Pawar by taunting him about the “limited strength” of his party. “Pawarsaheb, please do not care about the BJP. Try and get more than 60 MLAs elected from your party. Other regional parties in the country have two states under their belt, but your party has been restricted to just three-and-a-half districts [from Western Maharashtra]…The people of Maharashtra, using their democratic right, decide whom to choose to rule. They elected 105 MLAs from the BJP. You could not win even half of the BJP tally. The voters will teach a lesson to the people who disrespect their mandate,” a series of tweets in Marathi from the official twitter handle of the BJP said.

In another tweet, the BJP also questioned Pawar over the pending issues of Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation workers, farmers, and reservation. “You may vow not to allow the BJP to come back to power, but you should first resolve these issues which are affecting people,” the tweet read.

On Thursday, Fadnavis said that the BJP would come back to power on its own after the Assembly election.

“We will not topple the MVA government. We are preparing for the next Assembly poll in 2024. We will fight the poll on our own and form the government as the single largest party. Even in the municipal corporation and district council elections, we will form the bodies on our own,” he said.

Union minister and senior BJP leader Raosaheb Danve on Friday claimed that as many as 25 disgruntled MLAs from the MVA coalition were in touch with them. He, however, did not disclose the names. “Sena MLAs were elected using Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s name, but afterward they stabbed us in the back and went ahead to form the government with the Congress and the NCP,” he said.

More fireworks are expected from both sides in the coming days. “The Sena is not likely to go back to the BJP. The NCP and Sena leaders have decided to give a befitting reply to the BJP, in response to action against ruling party leaders. In such a scenario, the tussle will escalate at the cost of development works,” a senior Congress leader said.

Political analyst Pratap Asbe said the political slugfest would go on. “The tussle will intensify further and it is the matter of survival for both sides. To ensure that the three parties do not stay together, the BJP will try to adopt any strategy from wooing the Sena to split to toppling the government. On the other hand, staying together strongly is inevitable for the three ruling parties. They may get the backing of the people if they decide to fight back the BJP with political will and might,” he said.