 "How Devendra Fadnavis convinced Eknath Shinde to join Maharashtra govt")
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Friday revealed how he convinced Shiv Sena Chief Eknath Shinde to join the Mahayuti government after the latter's initial reluctance.
Speaking to CNN-News18 a day after taking oath as chief minister, Fadnavis recounted his experience when he was in a similar situation two years ago and was asked by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to join the government as Shinde's deputy.
"In 2019, the NDA gained a majority but Uddhav Thackeray had other plans and we were deprived of power. In 2022, when we returned to power with Eknath Shinde, I was in two minds about whether to accept the role of Deputy CM or not. I thought people would see me as power-greedy," CNN-News18 quoted Fadnavis as saying.
Fadnavis was referring to the events leading up to the formation of the Mahayuti government in June 2022, after Eknath Shinde's rebellion in Shiv Sena led to the fall of the Uddhav Thackeray-led government. Fadnavis, who had served as the chief minister previously, had to make way for Shinde and was asked by the BJP to join the government as deputy chief minister.
"Today, I realised what the party leadership was thinking and how right they were," Fadnavis said.
Roles reversed
This time, the leadership roles were reversed as Fadnavis was named the chief minister. Eknath Shinde, who led the Mahayuti's charge into the election and successfully beat anti-incumbency, was reportedly unhappy over not being assigned the top post and was unwilling to join the government as the deputy to his former deputy.
However, he relented after long deliberations with allies and his own party members and took oath along with Fadnavis as the deputy chief minister on Thursday.
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According to Fadnavis, he conveyed his experience from June 2022 to Shinde to convince him to join the government.
"It is the same thing that I conveyed to Shinde ji as well... that if the top leader of the party is not part of the government, it leads to disorder in the party and the entire party going into disarray. This is important and this is what I went and told him (Shinde)," he said.
Devendra Fadnavis returns as CM
On Thursday, Devendra Fadnavis took oath as Maharashtra chief minister for the third time. Along with Fadnavis, Shiv Sena chief Eknath Shinde and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Ajit Pawar took oath as deputy chief ministers.
After taking oath, the 54-year-old politician said the state will not experience the political instability it has endured in recent years. He further assured that the Mahayuti alliance would deliver a stable government for the next five years.