Mumbai, Nov 23 (IANS): A visibly relaxed Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Saturday said that the people of Maharashtra have voted against the toxic propaganda by electing those who are fighting against the fake narratives.
In his first reaction to MahaYuti’s stellar performance and BJP’s improved tally in the Assembly election, Fadnavis said that the poll results have shown that Maharashtra is solidly behind the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
“I sincerely thank Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, party President J.P. Nadda, the state in charge Bhupendra Yadav and senior leaders for their support and especially the state unit chief Chandrashekhar Bawankule who literally revived the party organisations in the past two years,” he added.
He said that poisonous propaganda that was being spread in the state has been rejected by the people of Maharashtra.
“I thank the people of Maharashtra. We are modern Abhimanyu, who finally broke the Chakravyuh (wheel formation). Entire Maharashtra is behind PM Modi. Ek Hai To Seif Hai, the slogan given by Modi has been made a success by the people of all the communities of Maharashtra. Thanks to our lovely sisters (Aldi Bahin) who have blessed us so much,” said Fadnavis.
On the issue of who will be the chief minister, Fadnavis said that Home Minister Amit Shah has already clarified that the Chief Minister’s post will not be decided based on the seats won by the parties.
“The decision will be taken by the national presidents of BJP, Shiv Sena and NCP together,” he said.
On who is ‘real’ Shiv Sena and NCP, Fadnavis said that taking into account the seats won by the Eknath Shinde-led party it is a real Shiv Sena which is committed to the thoughts of Balasaheb Thackeray.
“It has got legitimacy. In the case of Ajit Pawar-led NCP, it is now a real NCP considering seats won by it,” he said.
Fadnavis also took a swipe at Shiv Sena UBT MP Sanjay Raut raising doubts over the poll results and EVMs saying that in the case of Jharkhand results the EVMs were functioning well but in Maharashtra, they have a problem.
He said that the MahaYuti will not go by the number of seats won by the opposition but they will be honoured and their views will be taken into consideration in the functioning of the assembly.
Meanwhile, NCP President and Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar has credited the party's pink theme campaign for MahaYuti's spectacular performance in the polls.
“Maharashtra chose pink,” he said. NCP has contested 59 Assembly seats and is currently leading in 39 seats.