‘Everyone knows what he had said about Pawar’: Fadnavis takes a dig at Kejriwal

The comments against Pawar had not gone down well with the NCP, which had then threatened to file a defamation case against Kejriwal. The Delhi CM had also wondered how Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who was talking of ending corruption, was going to Pawar and seeking his blessings.

On Thursday, after meeting Kejriwal, Pawar termed the Centre’s ordinance on control of services in the national capital as an “attempt to limit parliamentary democracy” and assured support to the Delhi chief minister, saying he will urge “like-minded” parties to oppose the bill on the matter in Parliament.

“No matter who meets whom to build a strong Opposition, PM Narendra Modi remains the most popular leader of the country. People have reposed full faith in Modi’s leadership. All the welfare schemes undertaken by the Centre in the last nine years have helped in the upliftment of the poor, needy and oppressed segments,” Fadnavis said.

Central schemes have brought a drastic change in the lives of people across sectors and reforms have ushered more transparency and accountability in the system, helping to eliminate corruption and middle agents, Fadnavis added.

Reacting to Fadnavis’s remarks, AAP Mumbai president Preeti Sharma Menon said, “Devendra Fadnavis is someone who can join hands with anyone for power. But Arvind Kejriwal will bring everybody together to fight and save democracy in the country.”

She also recalled how the BJP had once launched a campaign against Ajit Pawar. “During the election campaign in the 2014 Assembly elections, Fadnavis had threatened to put Ajit Pawar in jail. But it was the same Fadnavis who post-2019 Assembly polls sought support from Ajit Pawar to form the government. Even now, Fadnavis is still trying to get Ajit Pawar into the BJP fold,” she said.