Devendra Fadnavis cites Pawar’s book to target Thackeray

In the book, which focuses on events post-2015, Pawar has blamed Thackeray on multiple counts, including his resignation as Maharashtra chief minister without putting up a fight

Deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis on Thursday cited references from the recently unveiled autobiography of Sharad Pawar “Lok Maze Sangati” to take on former chief minister Uddhav Thackeray.

Deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis speaking during the event in Pune. (Rahul Raut/HT PHOTO)

Speaking in Pune during the party’s state executive meeting at Balgandharva auditorium, Fadnavis said, Pawar’s book “Lok Maze Sangati” has certain references that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had also spoke about but was termed “anti-Maharashtra”.

“There are 10 things in the book we can look at…It speaks about Thackeray’s absence in Mantralaya; his failure to quell the discontent within his party; the lack of political acumen; not well informed about political developments. This was exactly what we were also talking about. But we were termed ‘Maharashtra drohi’,” Fadnavis said.

In the book, which focuses on events post-2015, Pawar has blamed Thackeray on multiple counts, including his resignation as Maharashtra chief minister without putting up a fight. The Uddhav camp has previously dismissed the criticism of the party chief in Pawar’s autobiography.

Fadnavis took a dig at Thackeray saying he needs to learn from Pawar about difference between tendering resignation and announcement about resignation.

The BJP leader was referring to Pawar’s recent announcement of stepping down from the party which the NCP chief later withdrew citing pressure from party workers. Last year in June, Thackeray had resigned as the chief minister without facing the trust vote called by the Maharashtra governor, a point cited by the Supreme Court in its recent judgement to reject Shiv Sena (UBT) petition for status quo ante.

The deputy CM also spoke on the SC ruling saying this is the first executive meeting of the BJP after the Supreme Court verdict on the Maharashtra government. “There were eight demands the Uddhav Thackeray camp had asked and not a single demand was approved by the Supreme Court. I want to tell that our government is fully constitutional and it will not only complete its term, but also win the next elections,” Fadnavis said.

During his speech, Fadnavis assured BJP national chief JP Nadda that the party will win more seats in Lok Sabha that in the previous polls.

The Lok Sabha elections are expected to be held in the country in April-May 2024, while the assembly polls in Maharashtra are likely to be conducted in October-November next year.

In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP-Shiv Sena (undivided) combine had won 41 out of the 48 seats in Maharashtra (BJP 23 and Shiv Sena 18).

In the Maharashtra assembly polls held later that year, the BJP won 105 seats, while the Shiv Sena bagged 56 seats.

The two parties, however, parted ways after the election results over the issue of chief minister’s post. There are 288 assembly constituencies in Maharashtra.