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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 a decision on the disqualification of sitting CM Eknath Shinde and 15 other Shiv Sena MLAs would be taken around August 10.
“After taking a decision on the disqualification of Shinde and other MLAs, the current deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar will be appointed as the chief minister around August 10,” news agency PTI quoted former Maharashtra chief minister Prithviraj Chavan as saying.
He also said that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is not keen on contesting the 2024 Lok Sabha elections under the leadership of Eknath Shinde as he has “no influence” outside his home district of Thane.
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“The BJP now has an alternative in the form of Ajit Pawar,” Chavan said.
He alleged that ‘use and throw’ is the modus operandi of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
“It is Shinde’s fate. The understanding of the BJP’s top leadership indicates that they want Ajit Pawar to be the chief minister and face elections,” he said.
It is noteworthy that on July 2, eight MLAs of Ajit Pawar and Sharad Pawar’s party NCP joined the Shiv Sena-BJP government. While Ajit Pawar took oath as Deputy Chief Minister, rebel NCP MLAs took oath as ministers.
However, Shinde had said that there was no threat to him if Ajit Pawar came to the government.
Both Ajit Pawar and Eknath Shinde had recently met PM Modi at an important NDA meeting in Delhi.
Ajit Pawar aspires to become CM
Earlier this month, Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar had said that he aspired to become the CM of the state.
“I took oath as deputy CM five times. This is a record but the vehicle stops there, and does not move further. I heartily feel that I should become the chief of the state. I have certain things that I want to implement and for that it is necessary to become chief (CM),” Ajit Pawar, who has never hidden his chief ministerial ambitions, said at a meeting convened by him at the Mumbai Educational Trust in Mumbai on July 5.
Senior BJP leader and former Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis is also the Deputy Chief Minister.
