Sharad Pawar has this to say on Devendra Fadnavis' ‘still feel like Maha CM’ comment

Sharad Pawar congratulated Fadnavis for feeling like he was still the chief minister of Maharashtra after holding the post for only a single term of five years

Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) supremo Sharad Pawar on Wednesday took a jibe at former Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis for his remarks on people’s continued love and support making him feel like he was still governing the state.

“It's good that the BJP leader (Devendra Fadnavis) still considers himself as the chief minister. I congratulate him," said Sharad Pawar (ANI)

Pawar, whose party is a stakeholder along with the Shiv Sena and Congress in the ruling Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), congratulated Fadnavis for feeling like he was still the chief minister of Maharashtra after holding the post for only a single term of five years, even though the former did not even remember that he was at the helm for as many as four times.

"It's good that the BJP leader still considers himself as the chief minister. I congratulate him. After being the chief minister for five years, Fadnavis still feels he is holding the post. I lacked this trait. I have served as chief minister (of Maharashtra) four times. But I don't even remember," Pawar said at a press conference on Wednesday.

Speaking to reporters in Navi Mumbai on Tuesday, Fadnavis said the love and affection of people for him had not yet receded even after two years of his moving on from the CM’s role. "I still feel that I am chief minister as I have been roaming in the state over the last two years. The love and affection of people have not receded,” he said on Tuesday.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader had served as the chief minister from 2014-2019. He had to give up the post after the 2019 assembly election when the BJP’s decades-old ally, the Shiv Sena, parted ways over leadership issues.

While he did retain his office for three days by forming a coalition with a breakaway group of NCP led by Pawar’s nephew Ajit Pawar, his government fell after Pawar rescinded his support, paving way for the MVA government to take over with Sena leader Uddhav Thackeray as the chief minister.