Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis Archives - Lokmarg

M’rashtra: Tea Party Organized On Eve Of Monsoon Session Assembly

By LokMarg 16th July 2023

A tea party was organized at the Sahyadri State Guest House in Mumbai on the eve of the Monsoon Session of the state legislature on Sunday, an official statement issued by Maharashtra Chief Minister office (CMO) said.

The tea party was attended by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar
“Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar along with the cabinet members were present in the meeting,” Maharashtra CMO said.

Earlier today, the MLAs of the NCP Ajit Pawar faction reached the YB Chavan Centre to meet NCP President Sharad Pawar.

Deputy CM Ajit Pawar, and Praful Patel along with their MLAs reach YB Chavan Centre in Mumbai to meet NCP President Sharad Pawar

Chhagan Bhujbal, Aditi Tatkare, and Hasan Mashrif were among those who arrived at the center.

Reacting to the meeting between the two factions, Maharashtra Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis said,” For years Sharad Pawar was their leader, so they must have gone to meet him, no big deal in it.”

Earlier, Maharashtra Deputy CM Ajit Pawar met Nationalist Congress Party Chief Sharad Pawar’s wife Pratibha Pawar on Saturday and said that he has the right to visit his family.

“I hold all the rights to meet my family. My aunt (Pratibha Pawar) was not keeping well and was hospitalised, so I went to meet her after she was discharged,” he said.

In a major Cabinet expansion in the Eknath Shinde-led government soon after the inclusion of nine MLAs of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), new Deputy CM Ajit Pawar has been entrusted with finance and planning ministries.

Earlier on July 2, Ajit Pawar split the NCP down the middle as he joined the Shiv Sena-BJP alliance in Maharashtra along with 8 senior MLAs and took oath as the state’s deputy chief minister for the fifth time. (ANI)

Our Hindutva Is Not Anti-Muslim: Fadnavis

By LokMarg 3rd July 2023

Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said that the ruling Shiv Sena-BJP coalition’s ideology of Hindutva is not anti-Muslim or against any community, but its ideology is anti-appeasement. He slammed Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray for indulging in appeasement politics after severing ties with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

In an interview with ANI Editor Smita Prakash on June 29 before the split in Nationalist Congress Party, Fadnavis said, “What is Hindutva for us? Our Hindutva is not anti-Muslim or anti-any community. Our Hindutva is anti-appeasement. Don’t appease anyone. Let all be one and minorities have the right to education and occupation. Bring a system for them but don’t do vote bank politics.”
He said, “We have already divided our society on the basis of appeasement politics. When we bow in front of illegitimate demands, the country is divided. Uddhav adopted this appeasement politics. How did he go? He removed Hindu from Hindu Hridaysamrat Balasaheb Thackeray Maharashtra. This is the first time in the history of Shiv Sena a calendar was published in Urdu and ‘Janab Balasaheb Thackeray’ was written on it.”

He said, “Publishing a calendar in Urdu is not a small thing. Whoever has seen Shiv Sena and whoever knows about it, it’s a big thing for that person. It’s like transformation. This is a transformation for votes.”

“If we see Uddhav’s move as maturity or secularism, then why don’t they do some work? Why can’t they make a plan? Did they make any plans? Did they come up with a plan for the education of Muslims? They didn’t. What did they do, they made a policy of appeasement,” he said.

He added, “When the Prime Minister talked about Uniform Civil Code, the Muslim personal law board didn’t go to Akhilesh Yadav, Lalu Prasad Yadav, or Mamata, they came to meet Uddhav because they see a new pseudo-secular outfit in Uddhav.”

On being asked about Uddhav Thackeray taking part in electoral politics unlike Balasaheb Thackeray, he said, “You are absolutely right. I want to thank you for bringing this up. Today, in Maharashtra or Mumbai, we used to be an alliance. We used to get the non-Marathi vote and the Marathi vote. They (Uddhav) used to get a non-Marathi vote due to BJP. Marathi votes were already with them. They used to get an advantage. After breaking the alliance with BJP, he is not popular in the non-Marathi vote.”

He said, “Marathi vote is already with BJP. Because the Marathi vote is also the Hindutva vote. It came to their notice that there is a deficit. How will they fill this deficit? They understood that they can fill this deficit with minority votes. Now the issue is how will they get minority votes. They know they can get it through appeasement politics. Without appeasement politics, the minority vote will not shift towards them. That is why he started this appeasement politics. It is purely political and electoral.”

In 2019, the BJP, which emerged as the single largest party in Maharashtra assembly election, could not stake claim to form a government as its ally Shiv Sena remained firm on rotating the Chief Minister’s post and equal sharing of Cabinet berths.

Shiv Sena parted its ways with BJP to explore ways to form a government. The discussions between Shiv Sena, NCP and INC ended with the formation of a new alliance, Maha Vikas Aghadi. A consensus was finally achieved with Shiv Sena’s Uddhav Thackeray appointed Chief Minister after protracted negotiations.

Shinde led split in Shiv Sena. The Election Commission in February this year allotted the name ‘Shiv Sena’ and the party’s bow and arrow symbol to the Eknath Shinde faction. (ANI)

Mumbai: Raut Writes To Fadnavis Over Shashikant Warishe’s Case

By LokMarg 11th February 2023

Shiv Sena (Uddhav Thackeray) MP Sanjay Raut on Saturday wrote to Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadanvis requesting him to look into the matter of the ‘murder’ of Marathi journalist Shashikant Warishe in Ratnagiri.

Warishe was killed in a road accident, hours after his report on the proposed Nanar refinery in Ratnagiri was published in newspaper.
On February 6, Shashikant Warishe was standing near a petrol pump on the Rajapur highway when the accused allegedly ran him over with his car. The vehicle reportedly dragged Warish for several meters under the wheels before coming to a halt, the police said.

“When people rushed to help, the accused fled from the spot and Varishe was lying unconscious on the road. He was taken to a local hospital for treatment but succumbed to his injuries on Tuesday morning,” Police added.

Recently, Warish carried a report describing Ambekar as a ‘criminal’ and highlighted photographs where he is seen in the same frame with the Chief Minister and Prime Minister.

Ambekar, a leader of the local land mafia, was known to threaten and harass those who resisted any land acquisition on behalf of the upcoming refinery.

Ratnagiri Superintendent of Police Dhananjay Kulkarni said that the accused was arrested and produced before the court, which sent him to police custody till February 13.

Ratnagiri Police had initially registered a culpable homicide not amounting to murder, but later the police added IPC section 302 against accused Ambarkar.

Meanwhile, the Mumbai Press Club has also demanded to order for a “wide-ranging” probe into the murder.

“Though the local police have arrested the assassin Ambekar, there is a need for the Maharashtra Government to order a wide-ranging probe into the murder. This must include investigating a possible conspiracy, which may involve corporate elements, to strangle the local opposition to the refinery,” the statement by the club said.

“The Mumbai Press Club demands that the killing be probed from all angles and that Pandarinath Ambekar, as well as those who have possibly conspired with him to carry out the killing, be brought to book. The Club also demands that Warishe’s family be provided with protection during the investigation period and fair compensation for the murder of the breadwinner,” it further said. (ANI)

Shinde To Move Resolution Over M’rashtra-K’taka Border Dispute

By LokMarg 27th December 2022

Chief Minister Eknath Shinde will move a resolution in the State Assembly on Tuesday over the border dispute between Karnataka and Maharashtra, said Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis.

Speaking to media persons today, the Deputy Chief Minister hoped that the resolution will be passed by the majority.
“Today Chief Minister will move a resolution in the state assembly on the border dispute. I hope the resolution will be passed by the majority,” he said.

Targeting the former CM and Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) leader Uddhav Thackeray for requesting the central government to declare “the disputed areas” as a Union Territory, Fadnavis said, “I was surprised that those who spoke yesterday, he did nothing for 2.5 years as CM. The border dispute did not start after our government came to power.”

He further said that the previous governments in the State is making the Eknath Shidne government responsible for the border dispute which is going on for years.

“It started with the creation of Maharashtra and the language-wise formation of provinces. It is going on for years. Since then, for years those who have governments are showing that the border dispute started after our government came. In this way, politics has never happened on the border dispute. We stood with the government every time because the question was of Marathi-speaking people,” said the Deputy Chief Minister.

He further urged other parties not to do politics on this.

“We never did politics on this issue and we hope that no one does politics on this. People of border areas should feel that entire Maharashtra is with them,” he added.

Earlier on Monday, Uddhav in the state Legislative Council said, “It is not just a case of language and border, but of ‘humanity’. Till the issue is pending before the Supreme Court, the Karnataka-occupied Maharashtra should be declared as a Union Territory by the central government.”

Uddhav further said that Marathi people residing in the border villages have faced “injustice”.

“Marathi-speaking people have been residing in the border villages for generations. Their daily life, language and lifestyle are Marathi. They do not understand Kannad,” he said speaking in the Upper House.

Hitting out at the Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, Uddhav said that he is showing any “calm” towards the matter.

Shiv Sena leader also stated that at the present, the states need to pass a resolution declaring “these areas” a union territory.

Notably, the border dispute between Maharashtra and Karnataka goes back to the implementation of the State Reorganization Act, of 1956. The then Maharashtra government had demanded the readjustment of its border with Karnataka.

Following this, a four-member committee was formed by both states.

The Maharashtra government had expressed willingness to transfer 260 predominantly Kannada-speaking villages, but the proposal was turned down by Karnataka.

Both governments later approached the Supreme Court to expedite the matter. (ANI)