On August 26, Eknath Shinde, the Maharashtra Chief Minister claimed a “calculated move” had been planned by the previous MVA government l for levelling false charges against BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis and sending him to jail along with others.
Shinde responded to the reporters on a Mumbai court accepting the CBI’s closure report in an alleged phone tapping case which took place during the then Maha Vikas Aghadi government’s term. The case relates to the March 2021 press conference addressed by current Maharashtra Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis when he was Leader of Opposition in the state legislature.
Shinde claimed that the then MVA government had misused power and wanted to jail leaders of the BJP by levelling different charges against them. A calculative move was made by the then government to level charges against (Independent MP) Navneet Rana, (BJP MP) Narayan Rane etc. and jail them. The same was planned by them (MVA) for Fadnavis also, and things had become clear, and the people of Maharashtra knew who was right and who was wrong.
Shinde also stated that Sharad Pawar, the NCP chief will soon be agreeing on whatever Ajit Pawar, who is part of the incumbent BJP-Shiv Sena government, agrees to. The reply from chief minister came after getting asked on Sharad Pawar’s statement a day before wherein he said there was no split in the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and Maharashtra Deputy CM Ajit Pawar is its leader. Pawar later denied making such a statement.
Shinde said, “Sharad Pawar is an old leader. Ajit Pawar agreed with the work of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. As he wanted to be a part of this work, he joined hands with the state government (of BJP-Shiv Sena). Whatever Ajit Pawar agrees to, Sharad Pawar will also agree soon,”. He further added that the historic landing of Chandrayaan 3 on the moon was one of the examples of the progress made by the country under PM Modi’s leadership.
Talking about the upcoming Indian bloc meeting in Mumbai, Shinde said that the coming of opposition parties together indicates that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be successful once more.(in elections). He added that opposition leaders came together in 2014 and 2019 also but that strategy did not work. On the other hand, the strength of the BJP increased and the situation won’t be different in 2024.