Chief Minister From Alliance Party With Maximum Seats? What Devendra Fadnavis Said

The Maharashtra assembly polls scheduled for November 20 are "ajab (strange)" and clarity on which group is supporting whom will be clear after results are declared on November 23, Deputy Chief Minister and senior BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis said on Thursday.

Interacting with a select group of reporters, he said the Mahayuti, comprising Chief Minister Eknath Shinde's Shiv Sena, the Ajit Pawar-led NCP and BJP, has an edge over the Maha Vikas Aghadi of the Congress, Uddhav Thackeray's Shiv Sena (UBT) and Sharad Pawar-led NCP (SP).

"These elections are strange (ajab). We will get to know who is with whom only after the results. There are internal contradictions within the Mahayuti as well," Mr Fadnavis said.

A similar situation is being faced by the MVA also, he asserted.

The polls are a battle of ideas, that of progress and development of the Mahayuti and MVA's policy of creating roadblocks, Mr Fadnavis said.

He also said the 'batenge toh katenge (disunity will lead to destruction)' slogan was a counter to the opposition MVA alliance's politics of appeasement.

The slogan 'batenge toh katenge', frequently used by Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on the campaign trail for the November 20 polls, has united the opposition in its condemnation, which claims it has communal overtones, while even some ruling alliance leaders have frowned on it.

When pointed out that NCP chief Ajit Pawar and BJP leaders Ashok Chavan and Pankaja Munde had struck discordant notes over the slogan, Mr Fadnavis quipped that the leaders had failed to grasp its core meaning.

"I believe they have not understood the core message of the slogan. 'Batenge to katenge' means everyone has to stick together. The Prime Minister has succinctly said 'ek hai to safe hai'," he said.

'Batenge to katenge' is a counter-narrative to the Congress-led Maha Vikas Aghadi's divisive campaign, and the core message of the slogan is that "everyone has to stick together". It does not mean we are against Muslims. The government has framed various welfare initiatives for all communities. Have we said the Ladki Bahin Yojana will not apply to Muslim women," Mr Fadnavis asserted.

Mr Fadnavis admitted the Maratha quota agitation has led to rift between the Marathas and OBCs in the Marathwada region of the state and assured the Mahayuti would provide a healing touch if it retains power.

He refrained from commenting on Maratha quota activist Manoj Jarange Patil by saying why he should do so for "a person who is not in the electoral fray".

At the same time, Mr Fadnavis asserted the ruling alliance will not trail in any region of the state.

Explaining his party's poll pitch for unity, the senior BJP leader said the Other Backward Classes comprise some 350 castes, who would not get the same importance if they are divided.

There are 54 groups under the Scheduled Caste segment and they get their due importance as long as they are together, Mr Fadnavis added.

Training his guns on Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, Mr Fadnavis said the concept of the opposition campaign of waving copies of Constitution was stolen from a Latin American country.

He said the campaign had boomeranged on the opposition, especially after it was revealed in a Congress rally in Nagpur that the inside pages of the Constitution copy Mr Gandhi waves are blank.

"What can be a greater insult to the Constitution? Can't you print proper copies of the Constitution? You chant the name of the Constitution but circulate a blank book. They (Congress) are wearing a burkha (veil) of the Constitution but are blank inside. They have no respect for the Constitution," Mr Fadnavis said.

Mr Gandhi has been waving a copy of the Constitution, with a red jacket and a black spine, at election rallies claiming the apex document was under attack by the Bharatiya Janata Party.

Mr Fadnavis also said there was no set formula for selecting the next chief minister of the ruling Mahayuti and a decision will be taken once assembly poll results are declared.

There is no formula of having a chief minister from the party winning the maximum number of seats or that with a better strike rate in the November 20 polls, he pointed out.

"A decision (on CM post) will be taken by leaders of the three parties. Eknath Shinde and Ajit Pawar are national presidents of their respective parties and the BJP Parliamentary Board authorises the party president to take a decision. So, the national presidents of the three parties will decide," he said.

Going into elections, the Mahayuti or the opposition MVA have not formally declared the CM face.

Mr Fadnavis, the BJP's first Maharashtra CM who served from 2014 to 2019, laughed away questions about his possible "promotion" to the Centre after the polls.

"I will do whatever BJP tells me to do. 'Jeena yahan, marna yahan, iske siva jaana kahan'. I will go wherever the BJP asks me to go," said Mr Fadnavis, who is contesting from Nagpur South West.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)