Sambhajinagar: NCP National President and Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar said on Wednesday that the MahaYuti partners will finalise decisions about the candidates for the post of chief minister and deputy chief ministers including the state cabinet in a cordial atmosphere after a meeting slated with the Home Minister Amit Shah in New Delhi on Thursday.
He further stated that the decisions made in Wednesday’s meetings will be supported by all MahaYuti partners.
“Eknath Shinde, Devendra Fadnavis and I will visit Delhi tomorrow and have a meeting with Home Minister Amit Shah. After that, the new chief minister, two deputy chief ministers and the Cabinet. The oath ceremony is likely on November 30 or December 1,” said Ajit Pawar whose party leader and senior minister Chhagan Bhujbal has announced that NCP will support Devendra Fadnavis as the next chief minister.
Ajit Pawar was speaking after Chief Minister Eknath Shinde opted out of the Chief Minister’s race announcing that he will support the BJP candidate and he will abide by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s decision in this regard.
The state BJP chief Chandrashekhar Bawankule hailed the chief minister’s move while hailing his stand to make the NDA further stronger and strengthen the MahaYuti in the state.
Ajit Pawar also thanked all the voters of Maharashtra and all the workers of MahaYuti, adding that the alliance partners’ responsibility has increased manifold in the wake of the landslide victory.
He said that the winter session of Nagpur is just around the corner and the supplementary demands have to be approved.
“There will be immediate work pressure but since most of us are experienced. We don’t think it will be that much of a problem. It is an effort to develop the state in a better way. There is an effort to bring all the elements of the society together. Also, there is an effort to bring huge funds from the central government. As the session of the Lok Sabha is going on, I will also try to meet various ministers to seek higher central assistance to Maharashtra,” said Ajit Pawar.
On the chorus growing in NCP for Ajit Pawar to become the next chief minister, he said that irrespective of what the party workers think, in the end, it is also seen how many legislators have been elected.
“The situation was different two and half years ago and now the story is totally different,” he said.
Commenting on the opposition’s criticism of EVMs, Ajit Pawar said: “We all respect the justice system. The Supreme Court said that every time a person loses an election, the defeat is inflicted on the EVMs, and if it succeeds, then the EVM is good. Even in the past, we saw a very poor performance during the Lok Sabha elections. But we did not blame it due to EVM. The opposition’s criticism is an attempt by the senior leaders to show to the candidates who have lost that they are doing something to boost their morale.”
He said that when the poll results of West Bengal, Punjab, Delhi, Karnataka, Kerala, Telangana, Jammu and Kashmir are declared, the EVMs were first class and if the results go against the INDIA Bloc then they start blaming the EVMs.
“The 2014 election also saw Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s wave and despite that, some people talked about the credibility of EVMs. Some people also spoke during the 2019 elections. But after the 2024 Lok Sabha elections no one said anything about EVMs,” said Ajit Pawar.
He said that Donald Trump lost the election in 2020 but then won back in 2024. “The decision given by the Supreme Court is final. Those who have lost the Assembly election are making noise about the EVMs. However, most people have faith in EVMs,” said Ajit Pawar.
(IANS)
