There won't be any power tussle; 'ED' govt is here to stay: Devendra Fadnavis after Maharashtra trust vote win

Maharashtra Dy CM Fadnavis made these remarks in the state assembly after Eknath Shinde won the trust vote proceedings in the assembly. In the final tally with a division of votes, the govt secured 164 votes and the Opposition got only 99 votes in the 288-member Lower House.

MUMBAI: Maharashtra’s Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Monday said that there won’t be any power tussle in the days to come and the Shiv Sena-BJP government led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde will continue its full term. “I would have even sat at home had the party told me - the same party that made me a CM. Today, I tell you that there will never be a tussle for power in this govt, we'll continue cooperating. People taunt that it's an ED govt. Yes, it's an ED govt-govt of Eknath Devendra,” the Deputy CM said.

I would have even sat at home had the party told me - the same party that made me a CM. Today I tell you that there will never be a tussle for power in this govt, we'll continue cooperating. People taunt that it's an ED govt. Yes, it's an ED govt-govt of Eknath Devendra:Deputy CM pic.twitter.com/PywbbEtMsk — ANI (@ANI) July 4, 2022

Fadnavis made these remarks in the state assembly after Shinde won the trust vote proceedings in the assembly. In the final tally with a division of votes, the government secured 164 votes and the Opposition got only 99 votes in the 288-member Lower House.

Fadnavis also responded to trolls who had mocked him for his "I will return" assertion before the 2019 state Assembly polls. The former Maharashtra chief minister said that he will not take revenge but forgive such trolls.

I had once said that I'll come back. But when I said that, several people mocked me. I've come back today and brought him (Eknath Shinde) along with me. I won't take revenge on people who mocked me. I'll forgive them, everything isn't taken to heart in politics: Devendra Fadnavis pic.twitter.com/UG7OjBjYq3 — ANI (@ANI) July 4, 2022

Before the Maharashtra Assembly elections in 2019, senior BJP leader and former CM Fadnavis said "Me punha yein" (I will return), which evoked many social media memes. After the polls, the Shiv Sena snapped ties with the BJP over the issue of sharing the chief ministerial post. The Sena had then tied up with the NCP and Congress to form the government.

Last month, Shinde launched a rebellion against the Sena. The majority of MLAs sided with him, which led to the collapse of the Maha Vikas Aghadi government led by Uddhav Thackeray.

On June 30, Shinde was sworn in as the chief minister of Maharashtra, while Fadnavis took oath as the deputy CM. Speaking in the House on Monday, Fadnavis said, "I have been trolled severely for my remark that 'I will return'. I am going to take revenge against the trolls by forgiving them.”

In politics, everyone should be prepared to listen to adversary's voices. We've seen that people were jailed for making statements &posting on social media. We should be prepared for people speaking against us. We should respond to criticism but in a proper way: Maharashtra Dy CM pic.twitter.com/i9sTRbNKe4 — ANI (@ANI) July 4, 2022

He also said when some MLAs were voting (during the floor test), members from the opposition benches shouted "ED, ED". "It is true the new government is formed by ED, which stands for Eknath and Devendra,” the BJP leader remarked.

Without taking the name of former CM Uddhav Thackeray, Fadnavis claimed Maharashtra witnessed a "deficit of leadership availability" in the last few years. "But, there are two leaders in the House (Shinde and himself), who will always be available for people,” Fadnavis said.

He even said that the BJP-Shiv Sena alliance had received the mandate but we were deliberately taken away from the majority. But with Eknath Shinde, we have once again formed our govt with Shiv Sena. A true Shivsainik has been made the CM. I became the Deputy CM as per my party's command, he added. 

This is the second big legislative victory for the Shinde government - sworn in on June 30 along with Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis - in the past two days.

On Sunday, the alliance candidate and the BJP's advocate Rahul Narwekar was elected the new Speaker, trouncing the Maha Vikas Aghadi`s Shiv Sena nominee Rajan Salvi with a comfortable margin.

Fadnavis also congratulated Shiv Sena-BJP Chief Minister Shinde, a disciple of late Balasaheb Thackeray and Anand Dighe, for winning the trust vote with a handsome margin.

The Speaker`s election followed by the trust vote for the Shinde-led government came on the second day of the 2-day Special Session of the Assembly convened by Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari.