No war within Maha Yuti allies: Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis

Mumbai: Amid the reported differences among the MahaYuti-NDA allies, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Sunday said that there is no one-upmanship or differences among the three partners.

The assertion comes hours after opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi slammed the BJP-led dispensation and boycotted the customary tea party hosted by the CM on the eve of the budget session of the Maharashtra legislature.

Fadnavis’ statement came in presence of Deputy CMs - Eknath Shinde, the chief leader of the Shiv Sena and Ajit Pawar, the NCP President - on the eve of the legislature session, which is expected to be stormy.

The statement assumes significance in wake of the fact that Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT)’s chief spokesperson Sanjay Raut claimed that Shinde had held a secret meeting with Union Home Minister and BJP’s chief strategist Amit Shah during which he complained against Fadnavis and sought the CM chair. However, he was rebuked and asked to merge Shiv Sena with BJP before making any such demand.

Shinde said that journalists should verify facts before a report is out.

"This is the second session of this government (after the winter session in Nagpur). Only we (Devendra Fadnavis and I) have changed roles. But yes, Ajit Dada's role is constant...We have started many projects which were stopped by the MVA government. Ajit Dada will present the Maharashtra budget,” said Shinde.

“No matter how much breaking news you give, we (Mahayuti) will not break. Where is the cold war? There is nothing like that. In this scorching heat of Maharashtra... how is a cold war possible?…there is thanda thanda cool cool,” he said and asked the opposition to be constructive.

“They should introspect…they should help us in the mission of development,” he said.

Pawar said that though the numbers of opposition is less, in no way the government is going to underestimate. “The opposition did not attend the meeting today ahead of the budget session. The opposition has sent us a letter...we will definitely try to run this session smoothly,” he said.