Nagpur: Amid an atmosphere of political suspense in Maharashtra, a banner proclaiming Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis as the ‘Future CM’ had suddenly caught the attention of people on Tuesday. The banner hasn’t gone down well with Fadnavis though.
When reporters asked Fadnavis, who is currently campaigning for Karnataka Assembly elections, the Deputy CM asked them to “just tear it up”.
Today’s Rate
Wed 4 Dec. 2024
Fadnavis also said that Chief Minister Eknath Shinde will continue in his post till 2024, when Maharashtra goes to the polls. Fadnavis’ comments came even as a reportedly miffed Shinde has gone on a surprise three-day ‘leave’ to his hometown in Satara on Monday.
Nationalist Congress Party’s (NCP) National Spokesperson Clyde Crasto has speculated that Shinde may be upset as the BJP wants him to “switch roles” with Fadnavis.
On the other hand, Shiv Sena’s (UBT) national spokesperson Kishore Tiwari said, “Perhaps, Shinde knows his time has come and is preparing to pack up.”
Many reports have suggested that lured by the offer of CM’s post, NCP leader Ajit Pawar was planning to join the BJP with around 38 MLAs. However, top NCP leaders, from his uncle Sharad Pawar, cousin Supriya Sule, state party chief Jayant Patil and others, have trashed all such speculation about Ajit Pawar.
In Maharashtra, ‘Future CM’ posters are becoming quite the norm. Earlier, there were posters/banners of NCP’s top leaders like Ajit Pawar, Sule and Patil with the ‘Future CM’ tag. Prior to that ex-CM Uddhav Thackeray’s son Aditya Thackeray was projected as future CM in some banners.
