Devendra Fadnavis.
Credit: PTI Photo
In a statement that snowballed into a political issue, Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis claimed that it was NCP supremo Sharad Pawar who had suggested President’s Rule in Maharashtra after the fractured mandate in the October 2019 Vidhan Sabha polls.
“It was Sharad Pawar who suggested that President’s Rule be imposed in Maharashtra. At that time, the NCP and the BJP were in talks for government formation,” Fadnavis said, speaking about the chain of events after the Shiv Sena broke ties with the BJP.
“However, Pawar later backed out from the arrangement,” said Fadnavis, a senior BJP leader, while participating in a conclave of a national media house.
The NCP, however, has rejected the charge.
“These claims are entirely baseless and lack any factual foundation,” said NCP chief spokesperson Mahesh Tapase.
"The NCP, under the leadership of Pawar, has consistently upheld the principles of democracy and the will of the people. We would like to remind Fadnavis that the decision to impose President's Rule in Maharashtra was taken by the Central government, and any insinuation that it was influenced by Pawar is false and misleading,” Tapase said.
“Our party is committed to transparency and accountability in governance. Such statements by BJP leaders are purposely made to confuse the electorate who stands with Pawar saheb in Maharashtra. Despite its ‘Operation Lotus' the BJP has not been able to substantially damage the NCP’s vote share in Maharashtra and hence repeated attempts are being made by Fadnavis to confuse the electorate. I wonder why the BJP cannot get over its obsession with Pawar,” Tapase said.