Pawar takes dig at Fadnavis over ‘i still feel like CM’ statement

Pawar also referred to Fadnavis’ famous “Me Punha Yein” (I will return) slogan which had become popular before the 2019 Maharashtra assembly elections.

In a dig at senior BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis, who had said that he still feels as chief minister of Maharashtra, NCP president Sharad Pawar on Wednesday said he lacked this trait even though he had served as CM for four times.

NCP president Sharad Pawar on Wednesday said he lacked this trait even though he had served as Maharashtra chief minister for four times. (PTI)

Fadnavis on Tuesday said that because of the people’s love, he did not feel that he had ceased to be the chief minister.

“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 had served as chief minister (of Maharashtra) four times. But I don’t even remember,” Pawar said.

He also referred to Fadnavis’ famous “Me Punha Yein” (I will return) slogan which had become popular before the 2019 Maharashtra assembly elections. The slogan had become a subject of ridicule and inspired many mock-filled messages and WhatsApp memes taking a dig at the BJP leader. Fadnavis, while speaking at an event in Navi Mumbai, had said that the people of Maharashtra never made me feel that I am not the chief minister. “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 had said.

Fadnavis became the chief minister of Maharashtra after the 2014 elections and went on to complete a full term, something which no chief minister of the state had managed in the previous three decades.

After the Shiv Sena walked out of the alliance with the BJP after the 2019 polls, he forged a tie-up with a breakaway group of NCP MLAs led by Ajit Pawar and was sworn in as chief minister with Pawar as his deputy.

But this government lasted only for three days for want of the numbers and was replaced by an alliance of the Shiv Sena, NCP and Congress, headed by Uddhav Thackeray.