President’s Rule Was Imposed In Maharashtra In 2019 With Sharad Pawar's Consent: Fadnavis

The President’s Rule was imposed in Maharashtra in 2019 with the consent of NCP president Sharad Pawar, said Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Wednesday 

The deputy CM was responding to a question at the India Today Conclave here about the timeline of his attempt to form a short-lived government with the NCP.

In one of the biggest political surprises in Maharashtra after the 2019 polls, the then Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari swore in Fadnavis as the chief minister and Ajit Pawar as deputy CM on November 23, 2019. However, the government fell after about 72 hours.

“Post assembly elections in 2019, we were discussing government formation with Sharad Pawar. We had even finalised portfolio distribution and guardian ministers’ responsibilities. But Pawar made a U-turn and backed out,” said Fadnavis on Wednesday, insisting that the decision to impose the President’s Rule in the state was taken with Pawar’s consent. 

In the last Maharashtra assembly elections, the results of which were announced on October 24, 2019, the BJP won 105 of the 288 seats in the state. The Shiv Sena, which was in an alliance with the BJP, won 56 seats. However, the allies parted ways after bickering over power-sharing, with the CM’s post being the bone of contention.

Following the deadlock, the President’s Rule was imposed in the state. 

“The governor has to ask every political party whether it would like to stake claim to form the government. The NCP refused to do so and its letter (to this effect) was typed at my residence in Mumbai. Pawar suggested some corrections, which were made, and then it (letter) was submitted,” said Fadnavis, claiming that Pawar’s consent had been taken before it was decided to go for the President’s Rule. 

“Pawar told us that he could not take a decision to tie up with the BJP in a short period. Pawar said he would first tour the state and announce his decision to form a government with the BJP after convincing people. Pawar said he would need one month for it,” Fadnavis said.

After Sharad Pawar made a U-turn about forming the government with the BJP, his nephew and NCP leader Ajit Pawar tried to form the government with the saffron party, Fadnavis added. 

Later, Sharad Pawar announced that the then Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray had been unanimously chosen to head an alliance of Sena, NCP and Congress – Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) – which formed the government.

The MVA government fell last year after Eknath Shinde, along with 39 Sena MLAs, joined hands with the BJP to become the chief minister with Fadnavis as his deputy, Ajit Pawar broke away from NCP in July this year to be a part of the ruling coalition.

-With PTI Input