Nagpur: Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Thursday told his deputy and NCP leader Ajit Pawar that he will become CM one day. “You are called ‘permanent deputy CM’… but my wishes are with you… you will be the CM someday,” said. Speaking in the legislative assembly, Fadnavis also emphasised that he and his deputies Ajit Pawar and Eknath Shinde would work 24/7 in shifts.
“Ajit Pawar will work in the morning since he is an early riser. I am on duty from 12 noon to midnight while throughout the night. you all know who,” Fadnavis said, referring to Shinde, who is known to work till late hours.
He was replying to a debate in the legislative assembly on the motion of thanks to the Governor for his joint address to both Houses of the state legislature during the ongoing Winter Session in Nagpur.
Fadnavis accused the Opposition of playing into the hands of the Deep State that was involved in destabilising the country.
“India is progressing by leaps and bounds towards the goal of becoming the third largest world economy. But the external forces inimical to the country’s interests were looking for “shoulders to fire their guns from,” and the Opposition parties (implying the Congress) was willingly lending its shoulders, said Fadnavis.
In a damning attack on the Congress, he said many groups and organisations identified as “urban Naxals” by none other than previous Manmohan Singh government in 2012 and also named by former state home minister RR Patil were on board the “Bharat Jodo Abhiyan” of the Congress party which was spearheaded by Rahul Gandhi.
“The very purpose of the Deep State is to spread anarchy by sowing seeds of doubts in people against all democratic institutions. Unfortunately, the Congress is helping it inadvertently without realising the dangers ahead,” he added.
Fadnavis said this distrust in institutions that led the Opposition to blame EVMs for their humiliating defeat in the state elections last month. “We got an unprecedented mandate from the people, but instead of acknowledging it and accepting defeat, the opposition parties are looking for scapegoats like EVM,” he said.
On the Opposition MLAs charge that the state was lagging in foreign direct investment and industrial growth, Fadnavis said Maharashtra was numero uno in FDI and will continue to remain No1 with no one to match it though 10 more states are competing for the top position.
The Wadhwan port being built at a cost of Rs 76000 crore, the third airport plan for Mumbai, new industrial clusters coming up in Jalna, Sambhajinagar would ensure that the state remains at the top for the next 25 years, said Fadnavis. “But elements who extort money from prospective investors and drive them away, have to be curbed to double up the pace of our industrial growth,” he said.
