Former Chief Minister and senior BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis was on Sunday elected as the Leader of the Opposition (LoP) in the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly.
Announcing the election as the Fadnavis as the LoP in the Assembly, Speaker Nana Patole said, “The BJP has given me to declare Fadnavis as the Leader of the Opposition. I have recognised the BJP as the principal Opposition party in the House and declare Fadnavis as the LoP in the State Assembly from December 1, 2019”.
Congratulating Fadnavis on his election as the LoP, Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray said, “I consider myself lucky to have known Fadnavis for the 25 to 30 years while in the Opposition. I have had good relations with him he was the Chief Minister of the State. I have never hidden the fact that I have learnt a lot from Fadnavis during his five years’ stint as the Chief Minister”.
Taking a swipe at the Fadnavis for leading the midnight coup leading to the formation of a BJP-led Government in alliance with the Ajit Pawar-led faction of the NCP, Uddhav said, “I have never betrayed the Government at any juncture during the last five years. I had kept my legislators in the loop about I am doing. I did not do anything in darkness.. We need to have another definition for the word Opposition. We in the ruling party are concerned about farmers’ issues. So is the Opposition. All of us want to do development work. That being the case, why should we oppose each other”.
“Fadnadis is an ideal person to become the LoP. He has a knowledgeable person. He performed well as the chief minister. He comprehended issues well and solved them. To just exhibit his confidence, he said, “Me Punha Yain, Me Punha Yain” in election rally after election rally. But, he did not say where he would sit — in the treasury benches or in the Opposition,” senior NCP leader Jayant Patil said, while taking a dig at Fadnavis for occupying the LoP’s post in place of being the Chief Minister.
Replying to the speeches by the ruling party members, Fadnavis hit back at the ruling party leaders for their criticism of his oft-repeated remark “Me Punha Yain, Me Punha Yain (I will come back)” “ I did say I would come back ... But I did not give the people any timeline as to when I would come back. I am like a tide in the sea. Please don’t me write off just because tide has ebbed, I will come back like a high tide,” he said.
Fadnavis lamented that despite performing well in the elections, the BJP did not form a Government in the state. “These kind of things happen in democracy. We scored 70 per cent marks but did not make it to the merit list. The three parties that got 40 per cent marks made it to the merit list with 120 per cent marks,” he said.
At the beginning of his speech, Fadnavis congratulated Uddhav Thackeray for becoming the Chief Minister. “There are things beyond politics. Uddhav Thackeray and I are good friends. Uddhavji may have lined up schemes to fulfil aspirations of the people. I will co-operate fully with the chief minister in implementing his plans,” Fadnavis said.