Whatever Ajit agrees to, Sharad Pawar will too: Shinde

Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Saturday claimed the previous MVA government had planned a "calculated move" to level false charges on BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis and jail him among others.

Shinde was replying to a query of reporters in Thane on a Mumbai court accepting the CBI's closure report in a case of alleged phone tapping that took place during the term of the then Maha Vikas Aghadi government.

The case stems from a press conference addressed by present Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis in March 2021, when he was the Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly

"The then MVA government had misused power and wanted to jail leaders of the BJP by levelling different charges on them. A calculative move was on 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," Shinde claimed.

Now things have become clear and people of Maharashtra know who is right and who is wrong, he said.

Shinde also claimed that NCP chief Sharad Pawar will soon agree on whatever Ajit Pawar, who is part of the incumbent BJP-Shiv Sena government, agrees to.

The chief minister's reply came on a query 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.

"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," Shinde said.

He said the historic landing of Chandrayaan 3 on the lunar surface is one of the examples of the progress made by the country under the leadership of PM Modi.

Shinde also made light of the upcoming meeting of the INDIA bloc in Mumbai saying that the coming together of opposition parties indicates that PM Modi will be successful again (in elections).

"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. The situation won't be different in 2024 also," he added.

The tripartite MVA government of Shiv Sena (Undivided), NCP, and Congress was in power from November 2019 to June 30, 2022. It collapsed after Shinde, then a minister, rebelled along with a bulk of MLAs of Shiv Sena against the leadership of then CM Uddhav Thackeray.