Mumbai, Oct 5 (IANS): A day after he virtually ‘anointed’ Ajit Pawar, the Deputy Chief Minister and leader of breakaway Nationalist Congress Party faction as the next CM, Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis reiterated that Chief Minister Eknath Shinde will continue in his post till the 2024 Assembly polls, here on Thursday.

Fadnavis said on Wednesday that “when the appropriate time comes, Ajit Pawar will be made CM for a full five years”, but a day later, toned down his comments to “best wishes to Ajit Pawar as a future CM”.

“Presently, Shinde is the CM and will continue in the post… There’s no reason to replace him before the Lok Sabha or Assembly elections in the state,” declared Fadnavis on Wednesday and repeated it today.

The NCP (Sharad Pawar) spokesperson, Vikas Lawande, while thanking Fadnavis for his magnanimity, also wondered whether the Bharatiya Janata Party would take Ajit Pawar ‘for a ride’ with such promises.

“We appreciate Fadnavis for his large heart to accommodate a person (Ajit Pawar) against whom corruption allegations were levelled, and now even promise to make him the next CM for a full term… We only hope that Ajit Pawar does not get betrayed,” said Lawande.

Shiv Sena (UBT) MP and Chief Spokesperson Sanjay Raut labelled Fadnavis as “a liar” for his claim on Wednesday that President’s Rule was imposed in Maharashtra after the 2019 Assembly elections at the behest of Sharad Pawar, triggering a fresh political verbal war in the state.

“I have not seen a liar like Fadnavis in my whole life… The state government is illegal and the person accused in the irrigation scam (Ajit Pawar) is sitting beside you… But they are only tarnishing the image of Maha Vikas Aghadi,” said Raut, speaking to mediapersons.

He said that if the Maharashtra Assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar proceeds as per the rules on the issue of disqualification of 16 Shiv Sena MLAs, “then forget five years, Shinde can’t remain CM for even five minutes”, and claimed that “even Ajit Pawar will lose his MLA-ship”.