New Delhi: Senior Congress leader Prithviraj Chavan on Monday claimed that Nationalist Congress Party’s Ajit Pawar will be appointed as the chief minister of Maharashtra around August 10. He said that a decision on the disqualification of incumbent CM Eknath Shinde and 15 other Shiv Sena MLAs will be taken around August 10.
“After deciding the disqualification of Shinde and other MLAs, incumbent Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar would be anointed as the chief minister around August 10,” Prithviraj Chavan, a former Maharashtra chief minister, was quoted as saying by the news agency PTI.
He also stated that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is not keen on contesting the 2024 Lok Sabha elections under Eknath Shinde as he wields ‘no influence’ outside his home district of Thane.
cre Trending Stories
“The BJP now has an alternative in Ajit Pawar,” Chavan added.
He alleged that ‘use and throw’ is the work style of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
“This is the fate of Shinde. The understanding of top BJP leadership indicates they want to make Ajit Pawar the chief minister and face elections,” he added.
It is notable that Ajit Pawar and eight MLAs of Sharad Pawar’s NCP joined the Shiv Sena-BJP government on July 2. While Ajit Pawar took oath as the deputy chief minister, the rebel NCP MLAs were sworn in as ministers.
Shinde, however, had said Ajit Pawar’s entry into the government posed no threat to him.
Both Ajit Pawar and Eknath Shinde had recently met PM Modi at the NDA’s crucial meeting in Delhi.
Ajit Pawar aspires to be CM
Earlier this month, Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar had said that he aspired to become the CM of the state.
“I was sworn in deputy CM five times. It is a record but the vehicle stops there, and doesn’t proceed further. I feel from the bottom of my heart that I should become pramukh (cm) of the state. I have some things which I want to implement and for that becoming pramukh (CM) is essential,” Ajit Pawar, who has never hidden his chief ministerial ambitions, told a meeting convened by him at Mumbai Educational Trust in Mumbai on July 5.
Senior BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis, a former chief minister, is also a deputy chief minister.