I forced Uddhav Thackeray to become Maharashtra CM: Sharad Pawar

NCP president Sharad Pawar said he had insisted that Uddhav Thackeray become chief minister of Maharashtra after Maha Vikas Aghadi MVA was formed two years ago hours after BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis claimed Thackeray covertly nurtured ambitions to become a CM but kept talking about installing a Shiv Sainik on the postSpeaking to reporters in Pimpri Chinchwad city in the Pune district Pawar reiterated his allegations that the Centre was misusing various agencies to destabilise the tripartite government of Shiv Sena NCP and Congress in Maharashtra He said the BJP was keeping mum on the issue of rising prices of fuel and accused the saffron party of not lowering rates of petrol and diesel despite a fall in the international prices of crudeI forced Uddhav Thackeray to become Maharashtra CM Sharad PawarThackeray was selected by leaders of three parties in the MVA The MVA was formed by the contribution of many people including me When we held a meeting to form the MVA and to discuss the leadership of the alliance I forced him Uddhav Thackeray to become the chief minister I have seen these people since their childhood Shiv Sena founder Balasaheb Thackeray and I might have political differences but we were closeI thought why not the son of a person who had contributed for Maharashtra should become the CM and I insisted Uddhav Thackeray to become the chief minister Fadnavis had worked with Uddhav so he knows how Uddhav is He should stop questioning repeatedly about how Uddhav became CM the NCP chief saidEarlier in the day Fadnavis had alleged that the MVA government was formed through dishonesty I feel that respected Uddhavji should now accept that he had ambitions of becoming a chief minister which he fulfilled In politics having ambitions is not wrong But if you wanted to keep the word you could have made senior Sena leaders Diwakar Raote Subhash Desai or Eknath Shinde a CM Fadnavis saidIn the past Thackeray had said several times that he had made a promise to his late father Bal Thackeray to install a Shiv Sainik party worker as chief minister of Maharashtra If you really did not want to become a CM then why Narayan Rane had to leave Shiv Sena Rane did not want to become the party chief Also why Raj Thackeray had to leave Shiv Sena It is alright if you had ambitions of becoming chief minister but now please stop blaming us the BJP leader had saidPawar said Fadnavis was making these allegations because he couldnt become a CM for the second timeFadnavis had to quit after 80 hours after taking oath as CM for the second time after NCPs Ajit Pawar with whom he had taken oath in November 2019 resignedPawar said the MVA government will last full five years and the constituent parties will be reelected in 2024 polls Meanwhile he said people are facing hardships due to spiralling prices of fuelBut the Central government is not concerned about the price rise Around six months ago international crude oil prices came down however the Centre did not cut the rate of petrol and diesel he said The former Union minister said when Manmohan Singh was the prime minister due to the rise in the international rate of crude we were planning to increase the fuel rateHowever the BJP which was in opposition that time opposed the move strongly but now they are increasing the prices of fuel every day he allegedPawar reiterated that the Centre was misusing Central agencies in MaharashtraThe CBI needs the permission of state governments to probe a case but it is not happening in Maharashtra Here the CBI is being misused by the Central government he allegedPawar also attacked former Mumbai police commissioner Param Bir Singh without taking his name in connection with the Anil Deshmukh case Allegations of extortion were raised against then home minister of Maharashtra Anil Deshmukh by then Mumbai police commissioner When it was asked to Mumbai police commissioner whether the police implemented Deshmukhs alleged instructions to police to collect money then he denied itHowever taking responsibility before allegations are proved Deshmukh resigned from the post but the complainant is still missing from that day Its the responsibility of the Union government to trace that missing person who is the officer of the commissioner level But nothing is being done by the Central government This is a process to destabilise the state government Pawar alleged He also referred to the ED probe linked to Shiv Sena MP Bhavana Gawalis trustAttacking the Narcotics Control Bureau NCB Pawar said some witnesses used by the agency are criminalsHe cited the case of the soninlaw of NCP leader and Maharashtra minister Nawab Malik Since Nawab Malik who is the spokesperson of the NCP cannot be attacked directly his soninlaw was targeted by the Centre with the help of the agency NCB His soninlaw was arrested and kept in jail for possession of ganja But fortunately a few days ago his bail was approved The court highlighted that he was not possessing ganja but it was some kind of plant This is the second example of the misuse of power and investigating machinery Pawar saidWithout taking the name of Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khans son Aryan Khan Pawar claimed the NCB catches anyone and alleges that a banned substance was found from his possession People who are involved in crimes have been made panch witness In Maliks soninlaws case the witness is having a criminal record In a recent raid too on a cruise ship in Mumbai one Gosavi who was a witness of the NCB is found to be a criminal on record he claimed Pawar said when a constituent party under the MVA speaks on the action taken by the NCB or other agencies BJP leaders jumped in to defend these agenciesWhen there are allegations against agencies like NCB ideally its official or a spokesperson should come forward to present their side However it is found that former CM Devendra Fadnavis and other BJP leaders are coming forward to defend them he allegedAlso Read MVA is most corrupt govt in Maharashtras history extortion its only agenda FadnavisThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever