Union minister Ramdas Athawale on Tuesday backed Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis hours after the Supreme Court directed the latter to face trial for allegedly failing to furnish details of two pending criminal cases. The Union minister of state for Social Justice and Empowerment expressed confidence that Fadnavis, who will be leading the BJP charge in the October 21 state Assembly polls, will come out clean.

Maha CM To Face Trial For Omission Of Criminal Cases In Poll Stmt: SC

Athawale backs Fadnavis

"A lot of times, allegations hurled are politically motivated. There is nothing wrong if a court finds anything worth investigating. As far as I know, Devendra Fadnavis ji has been a representative with an unblemished track record. His father had a clean image and so does he," Athawale said.

READ: SC To Pronounce Verdict In Plea Against Maharashtra CM Fadnavis

He said the SC ruling would not have any impact on the upcoming Maharashtra polls and claimed work done in the state by Fadnavis and by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the Centre will help the NDA. Athawale welcomed the Shiv Sena's decision to field Aaditya Thackeray from Worli but downplayed statements by a section of the Sena that the Yuva Sena chief was being groomed for the post of CM.

"There is no harm in dreaming since that is an easy job. Shiv Sena (has been) claiming Aaditya Thackeray will be the next chief minister. Let them dream. But we are supporting Devendra Fadnavis for CM," he said.

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Athawale, however, said workers of his Republican Party of India (A) in Worli will vote for Aaditya. Speaking about his party's alliance with the BJP, Athawale said he hoped the RPI(A) would get to fight eight Assembly seats. Queried on chances of RPI(A) candidates fighting on the BJP's lotus symbol, Athawale said a suitable decision would be taken in a "day or two".

Maharashtra Assembly Elections

According to the announcement by the Election Commission, the Maharashtra Assembly elections will be held on October 1. It will be held in a single phase and the counting procedure would be conducted on October 24. Maharashtra consists of an assembly of 288 seats. The Election Commission chief Sunil Arora also announced that the last date of nomination is on October 4. In 2014 in the Maharashtra Assembly elections, the BJP and Shiv Sena had contested separately over a dispute over sharing of seats. The BJP had won 122 out of 260 seats it had contested while the Sena bagged 63 out of 282 seats. After the BJP government was formed, Shiv Sena had joined the alliance. The Shiv Sena and the BJP will contest the Maharashtra Assembly elections together this time after an announcement was made over seat-sharing. Shiv Sena scion Aaditya Thackeray will become the first from his family to contest elections, fighting it out for the Worli seat.

READ: Aaditya Thackeray To Contest Maharashtra Polls; 'Howdy Adi,' Says Raut