Never expected this from Fadnavis, says NCP MP Sule on 2019 govt formation claim

File Photo/PTI

Nationalist Congress Party Lok Sabha MP on Tuesday expressed shock over Maharashtra deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis' sensational claim related to formation of government in 2019 with NCP leader Ajit Pawar, and said she never expected something like this from Fadnavis.

Fadnavis, a senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader, on Monday claimed NCP president Sharad Pawar had backed his plan to form the government with his nephew Ajit Pawar that eventually collapsed just after three days in November 2019.

However, Sharad Pawar quickly denied Fadnavis' claim and said his assertion was based on "falsehood".

"I always considered Fadnavis as a civilised and cultured person. I never thought he would behave like this," Sule said when asked about the deputy CM's claim.

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"Devendraji, this was not expected from you," said the Lok Sabha MP from Baramati, who is the daughter of Sharad Pawar.

"We had an offer from the NCP that they needed a stable government and we should form such a government together. We decided to go ahead and hold talks. The talks happened with Sharad Pawar. Then things changed. You have seen how things changed," Fadnavis said, referring to Ajit Pawar quitting the government 80 hours later.

In one of the biggest political surprises in Maharashtra, Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari swore in Fadnavis as Chief Minister and Ajit Pawar as Deputy CM in the early hours on November 23, 2019, after the BJP and then-undivided Shiv Sena fell out over sharing power after Assembly polls.

The Fadnavis-Ajit Pawar ministry lasted a little over three days after which Sena president Uddhav Thackeray was sworn in as the new chief minister.

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