"I was the BJP president then... We never gave any such undertaking and we do not lie They are claiming we did it in a private room... I don't do anything in private, I do everything in the open, in full public view," said Shah
Home Minister Amit Shah. File Pic
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday reiterated that his Bharatiya Janata Party never promised to give the Maharashtra's Chief Minister's post to its then ally Shiv after the 2019 Assembly elections.
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Slamming the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) and virtually terming Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray a liar, he also disputed the Sena chief's claims that the assurance was made to him in private.
"I was the BJP president then... We never gave any such undertaking and we do not lie They are claiming we did it in a private room... I don't do anything in private, I do everything in the open, in full public view," Shah asserted.
Instead, he countered Thackeray by asking why he didn't raise objections during the joint BJP-Sena campaign which was conducted with big photos of Prime Minister Narendra Modi on election posters and banners on stage.
There were posters of the PM The elections were held under the leadership of Modiji and (then Chief Minister Uddhav) Fadnavis. Uddhav was present in rallies where Modiji or I was there. But at no point of time they raised the issue of the CM's post," Shah argued.
Justifying his contentions, Shah narrated the example of Bihar where Nitish Kumar was given the CM's post although his party won lesser seats compared with the BJP in the Assembly elections last year.
Making his first direct attack on the 3-party alliance of Shiv Sena-Nationalist Congress Party-Congress since it took power in November 2019, Shah labelled it as "an autorickshaw government" with each wheel going in different directions.
"In his greed to grab power, Uddhav Thackeray junked the late Balasaheb Thackeray's ideals and principles, entered into an unholy alliance and became CM.
"They have violated the sacred public mandate which was in favour of BJP-Sena... They colluded to form the 3-party 'autorickshaw government' in Maharashtra which is floundering at every step," Shah said.
He also recounted the Modi's global trendsetting handling of the Covid-19 pandemic, the 'timely lockdown' imposed in March 2020, the meticulous treatment protocols which are being studied and followed worldwide, the huge strides in the country's medical and health sectors, development of the vaccines in the country which was poised to supply them to nearly two-thirds of humanity, etc.
Shah also lavished praises on his party colleage and Rajya Sabha MP Narayan Rane for continuous efforts to develop Sindhudurg and assured that the BJP would not dump him under any circumstances, but instead treat him with full dignity.
Earlier, Shah inaugurated Rane's new 300-bed private hospital and medical college, in the presence of Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant, Maharashtra's Leaders of Opposition Fadnavis (Assembly) and Pravin Darekar (Council), State BJP President Chandrakant Patil, other dignitaries, medical students, and political activists.
Affiliated to the Maharashtra University of Health Sciences, Nashik, the Sindhudurg Shikshan Prasarak Mandal (SSPM) Medical College & Lifetime Hospital, founded by Rane, has come up on a 70-acre campus in Padve village in Kankavali and will give a much-needed boost to medical facilities in the coastal Konkan region.
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