Fadnavis misusing Pawar's name to outshine CM Shinde: NCP

The NCP on Thursday accused Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis of trying to garner publicity by “misusing NCP president Sharad Pawar’s name to outshine” Chief Minister Eknath Shinde.

In an interview to a TV channel, Fadnavis recently claimed Pawar agreed to form government with the BJP in 2019 and then backed off after three-four days. Reacting to the Deputy CM’s claim, NCP national spokesperson Clyde Crasto in a statement said, “After being subdued by Eknath Shinde in advertisements over the past few days, Fadnavis is now trying to garner publicity on his own. He is therefore misusing Pawar’s name in interviews to gain free publicity and outshine Shinde.”

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After the 2019 Assembly elections in Maharashtra, the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (then undivided) snapped ties with long-term ally BJP over the issue of sharing the chief ministerial post. Later, Fadnavis was sworn in as the chief minister and NCP leader Ajit Pawar as his deputy in a hush-hush early morning ceremony at the Raj Bhawan, but the government lasted only 80 hours.

Thackeray subsequently tied-up with the NCP and the Congress to form the Maha Vikas Aghadi government (MVA) in the state. In June last year, Shinde led a revolt against the Shiv Sena leadership, leading to a split in the party and collapse of the MVA government. Shinde was sworn in as the CM with Fadnavis as his deputy on June 30 last year.

(With agency inputs)