Mumbai: Maharashtra BJP chief Chandrashekhar Bawankule on Sunday said leaders of the ruling Mahayuti alliance and the BJP leadership will decide who will be the next chief minister of the state. Addressing a press conference here, Bawankule also said the people of Maharashtra have rejected the Congress, and pointed to its state unit chief Nana Patole winning by a margin of just around 200 votes in Sakoli seat.
The BJP-led Mahayuti, which also comprises the Shiv Sena of Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and NCP of deputy CM Ajit Pawar, on Saturday retained power in the state by bagging 230 of the 288 assembly seats. The Congress-led Maha Vikas Aghadi’s dream of wresting power fizzled, with the opposition combine managing to garner just 46 seats. The BJP bagged 132 seats, the Shiv Sena won 57, while the NCP got 41 seats.
In the MVA, the Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) candidates won 10 seats, Congress won 16, while Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) won 20 seats. Bawankule said all sections of the society supported the BJP in the Maharashtra assembly polls. To a question on the state's next chief minister, he said the "decision would be taken by the Mahayuti leaders and the BJP's parliamentary board."
The selection process would be in-line with the alliance's plans for governance, he added. The people of Maharashtra have "rejected" the Congress, Bawankule said, added that Patole should pay heed to some of his own colleagues who have been seeking his resignation as the state party chief.
He said the Congress' "lies" during the poll campaign were to blame for no party getting enough seats to stake claim for the post of leader of opposition in the assembly. Notably, the Mahayuti's landslide in Maharashtra will leave the state assembly without a leader of opposition as no party outside the ruling alliance has been able to get the mandatory minimum 29 seats.
"The mandate of the people in this assembly election is against Congress. Having no leader of opposition in the Maharashtra legislative assembly is the karma of Congress," Bawankule said. Bawankule referred to the Congress' previous successes, particularly in the Lok Sabha polls earlier this year, claiming the opposition party had been misleading the people.
"The Congress succeeded in fooling the people during the Lok Sabha campaign, but it failed to repeat that success in this assembly election," he said. Targeting Patole, he said the Congress leader was dreaming of becoming the chief minister, but he has just somehow managed to win his seat with the help of postal votes.
"If he does not learn a lesson from this outcome, he may not be there in the House after the next assembly poll," Bawankule said. Bawankule also said the BJP plans to launch a major membership drive in Maharashtra. "Our goal is to enroll 1.51 crore new primary members," the BJP leader said, signalling a fresh push to expand the party base ahead of future elections.
