I was targeted in most uncivilised language: Devendra Fadnavis, day after taking charge as Maharashtra CM

Fadnavis said though the behaviour of his detractors caused him mental harassment, it also gave him the strength to put up a fight. “Their behaviour generated strength to fight, defeat them and show them their place. I did suffer mental harassment because of their behaviour…I did not suffer loss, but it benefitted me,” he said.

Fadnavis was sworn in as the chief minister on December 5, days after the Mahayuti alliance swept the Assembly elections by getting an absolute majority of 230 out of 288 seats.

Asked how he would ensure coordination between the three allies, the BJP, the Shiv Sena and the NCP, Fadnavis said, “In the last two and a half years, we have shown that the three parties can work together and that too with speed. So, it is not something new for us. We will ensure good coordination.”

Asked about the possibility of holding the long-pending civic elections – they have been put on hold as petitions related to the issue of providing Other Backward Class (OBC) quotas in civic bodies are pending before the Supreme Court – Fadnavis said, “In a robust democracy, not holding civic elections is not the appropriate thing. The issue is pending in the Supreme Court. Just yesterday, I spoke to the public prosecutor to urge the court to remove the stay…Our effort will be to hold elections as early as possible.”