Fadnavis Backs His Remark On Sharad Pawar Supporting 2019 Govt, Says 'statement 100% True'

Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Wednesday maintained that Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar had backed the government that the former had formed with Ajit Pawar in 2019, saying that his statement was "100 percent true". The BJP leader asserted he is not lying and will speak further on the matter at an appropriate time.

Speaking to the reporters in Pune, former Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis said, "Whatever I had said was 100 percent true, and there was no lie in it. I won't speak today on various interpretations that are being derived. I want to speak more on this, and I will speak at an appropriate time and that time is yet to come."

'Sharad Pawar backed the 2019 govt, had talks with him': DyCM Fadnavis

Earlier on Monday, Fadnavis while speaking at an event claimed that Sharad Pawar backed his 2019 government, but later the NCP changed its strategy. Later in the day, when reporters asked him about his statement, the BJP leader said, "We had talks with Pawar Saheb (Sharad Pawar). You should ask Ajit Pawar. Other things can be cleared by Ajit Pawar."

Responding to Fanavis's remark, Sharad Pawar denied the former's claim and said that he never thought the BJP leader will base his assertion on falsehood. "I felt that Devendra is a cultured person and a gentleman. I never felt that he will take recourse to falsehood and make such a statement," Pawar said, PTI reported. 

Fadnavis-Pawar's 2019 govt

Notably, in the Maharashtra Assembly elections held in 2019, BJP won 105 seats while its ally, the Shiv Sena, won 56 seats. However, due to disagreement over who would be the Chief Minister, the two parties failed to form a government and the Shiv Sena started negotiating with the Congress and NCP instead. The Centre then imposed President's rule in the state on November 12. 

Despite this, the Shiv Sena, Congress, and NCP continued their negotiations and eventually, Uddhav Thackeray was chosen to head the new government. In a sudden turn of events, the then-Governor of the state, Bhagat Singh Koshyari, swore-in Devendra Fadnavis as the Chief Minister and Ajit Pawar as the Deputy Chief Minister, creating a shockwave in the political arena. However, this sudden change only lasted for three days, after which Uddhav Thackeray was sworn in as the new Chief Minister of the MVA government.