Fadnavis denies Hegde's claim about central funds, says never took any such decision

Former Maharashtra CM and BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis on Monday claimed that no such major policy decision has been taken by him as CM. "All such allegations are false", he added. Earlier, Hegde had claimed that Fadnavis was made Maharashtra Chief Minister to prevent central funds worth Rs 40,000 crore, from being "misused" by the Maha Vikas Aghadi alliance of Shiv Sena, NCP and Congress.

Nagpur (Maharashtra): Devendra Fadnavis on Monday denied BJP colleague Anant Kumar Hegde's claim that the former was made the chief minister despite not having a majority to prevent central funds worth Rs 40,000 crore from being 'misused'.

"I have not heard what Anant Kumar Hegde has said, but from what I have heard from the media that the Maharashtra government gave Rs 40,000 crore to the central government, it is completely false. I deny this. Nothing like this happened," Fadnavis told media here.

Fadnavis further stated that in the bullet train project, the role of the Maharashtra government is limited to land acquisition.

"Whether it is bullet train or something else, neither central government asked for money from Maharashtra government and neither the state government gave the money," Fadnavis said.

"This statement is completely false. I have not taken any such decision... The Finance department should do investigation this and bring the truth in front of the people," he added.

Hegde had claimed that Fadnavis was made Maharashtra Chief Minister prevent central funds worth Rs 40,000 crore, from being "misused" by the Maha Vikas Aghadi alliance of Shiv Sena, NCP and Congress.

"You all know our man in Maharashtra became Chief Minister for 80 hours. Then, Fadnavis resigned. Why did he do this drama? Didn't we know that we don't have a majority and yet he became Chief Minister? This is the question everyone is asking" Hegde said in Uttar Kannada on Sunday.

The MP from Uttara Kannada said that the BJP staged a "drama" to move the money to the central government.

"A chief minister has access to around Rs 40,000 crore from the Centre. He knew if Congress-NCP-Shiv Sena government comes to power it would misuse funds meant for development. So, it was decided that there should be a drama. Fadnavis became Chief Minister and in 15 hours he moved Rs 40,000 crore back to Centre," Hegde added.

Fadnavis took oath as Maharashtra Chief Minister on November 23 while NCP's Ajit Pawar took oath as Deputy Chief Minister of the state. However, on November 26 Fadnavis announced his resignation after the Supreme Court ordered a floor test in the state assembly.

On November 28, Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray was sworn in as the Chief Minister of Maharashtra.