‘New Maharashtra government formed by ED’: Fadnavis' cheeky comment

After winning the trust vote in the Assembly, Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Monday (July 4) slammed the Opposition legislators and said that the new government is formed by “ED”.

Fadnavis’ comments came amid shouts of “ED, ED” in the Assembly during the trust vote which was won 164-99 by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde.

The BJP leader said when some MLAs were voting (during the floor test), members from the Opposition benches shouted “ED, ED”.

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“It is true the new government is formed by ED, which stands for Eknath and Devendra,” Fadnavis said using some wordplay.

On Sunday too, Opposition MLAs had also shouted “ED, ED” when Shiv Sena’s Yamini Jadhav voted in favour of the Shinde-Fadnavis combine during the election of the Speaker.

Her husband (and Shiv Sena leader) Yashwant Jadhav, who is also the former chairman of the BMC’s standing committee, is currently under the ED scanner in connection with alleged violations of the Foreign Exchange Management Act.

There were allegations by the Opposition that Enforcement Directorate (ED) was used to pressure Shiv Sena MLAs to side with the BJP. Last month, Shinde launched a rebellion against the Sena. The majority of MLAs sided with him, which led to the collapse of the Maha Vikas Aghadi government led by Uddhav Thackeray.

On June 30, Shinde was sworn in as the CM of Maharashtra, while Fadnavis took oath as the deputy CM.

Fadnavis was Maharashtra’s Chief Minister from 2014-2019 in the BJP-Shiv Sena alliance government. Before the Assembly elections in 2019, he said: “Me punha yein” (I will return), which evoked many social media memes.

After the polls, the Shiv Sena snapped ties with the BJP over the issue of sharing the chief ministerial post. The Sena had then tied up with the NCP and Congress to form the government.

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Speaking in the House, Fadnavis said, “I have been trolled severely for my remark that ‘I will return’. I am going to take revenge against the trolls by forgiving them.”

Without taking the name of former CM Uddhav Thackeray, Fadnavis claimed Maharashtra witnessed a “deficit of leadership availability” in the last few years.

“But, there are two leaders in the House (Shinde and himself), who will always be available for people,” Fadnavis said.

Last month, Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut said if the control of the ED is given to their party, then even BJP leader Fadnavis will vote for the Sena.

His reaction came in the backdrop of Shiv Sena candidate Sanjay Pawar losing the sixth seat in the Rajya Sabha polls from Maharashtra, a contest which had become a high-prestige battle between the ruling Sena and the opposition BJP in the state.

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Raut said, “If the ED’s control is given to us for two days, then Devendra Fadnavis too will vote for us.”

The Shiv Sena’s chief spokesperson had described BJP’s victory on three Rajya Sabha seats in Maharashtra as the “mandate of horse-trading”. He had also accused the Election Commission (EC) of siding with the opposition party, which he claimed “put pressure” on the poll panel.

“Some horses were up for sale at a higher price and shifted sides despite the assurance of their votes to our candidate,” he had said.

(With inputs from agencies)