Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Friday denied reports that industrialist Gautam Adani was involved in discussions over the possibility of a BJP-NCP government in the state after the 2019 assembly elections. Fadnavis comes after NCP leader Ajit Pawar alleged that senior BJP and NCP leaders were involved in the government formation talks held by Adani at his home in Delhi. However, Ajit Pawar later retracted his statement in an interview and said that he had made a mistake.
Speaking about this, Devendra Fadnavis said that when there was a meeting between BJP and NCP leaders, Adani was not present. He told Aaj Tak’s Anjana Om Kashyap: “Look, the meeting took place. Sharad Pawar, Ajit Pawar, (Union Home Minister) Amit Shah and I were there. But Gautam Adani was not there.”
Earlier, in a media interview, Ajit Pawar had alleged that he, Fadnavis, Amit Shah, Sharad Pawar and Praful Patel held a meeting at Adani’s house in Delhi in 2019, in which Adani was present. Later, Ajit Pawar’s estranged uncle Sharad Pawar also supported his nephew’s claim in an interview, alleging that the industrialist had organized a meeting of BJP and NCP leaders at his Delhi home.
After the controversy over allegations of the industrialist’s involvement in the formation of the government, Ajit Pawar retracted his statement in an interview given to news agency ANI and said that he had made a mistake in making such a statement. Ajit Pawar had said, “I said he (Adani) was not present there. We were at Adani’s guest house. No industrialist has any role in the formation of the state government. Sometimes we are very busy campaigning for elections and giving interviews. “I get to work and make statements by mistake.”
When asked if he was pressured to make such a statement, Ajit Pawar said that no one pressured him.
We tell you that in 2019, Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar shook hands and, in dramatic scenes, took oath as Chief Minister and Deputy Chief Minister in a short-term government, which lasted only 80 hours, that is, three and a half days. After the high-voltage drama, Ajit Pawar returned to the then undivided NCP, which became part of the Maha Vikas Aghadi government along with the Congress and the undivided Shiv Sena. However, in June 2022, the alliance broke up following the rebellion of a group of Shiv Sena MLAs led by now Chief Minister Eknath Shinde.
After this, Mahayuti was formed and Shinde became Chief Minister while Fadnavis became Deputy Chief Minister. A year later, Ajit Pawar rebelled again along with several NCP MPs and joined the ruling coalition. He also became Deputy Chief Minister. The split between Ajit Pawar resulted in one faction supporting him and the other supporting Sharad Pawar.
