Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Friday said the BJP-led NDA alliance at the Centre and the ruling ‘Mahayuti’ coalition were the future of the country and Maharashtra, respectively, while the Congress was history.
Speaking in the legislative assembly on the last day of the monsoon session, Shinde criticised the Congress for celebrating its third loss in a row in the recent Lok Sabha polls, ignoring the fact that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has assumed office for a fresh five-year term.
“It (Congress) could not win even 100 Lok Sabha seats (out of 543), but was celebrating, while Modi has become PM for a third consecutive time,” pointed out the CM, who heads the Shiv Sena, an ally of the BJP.
Shinde maintained the opposition led by the Congress came together for the Lok Sabha elections under the banner of INDIA bloc, but couldn’t stop Modi from becoming PM again.
He said Modi was fully supportive of Maharashtra’s development agenda.
“Not a single penny was deducted from our development funds,” the CM told the lower house which is having its last session before the assembly polls which are due in October.
Referring to his June 2022 revolt against the then-Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, Shinde said two years ago, he took a daring decision to quit the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) dispensation and install a government of people’s choice.
“We have taken decisions for the welfare of people,” he said, referring to his two years in office.
Taking a jibe at Thackeray, Shinde said his government runs “face to face” and not on Facebook Live.
The Shiv Sena leader has often targeted his predecessor, who was CM from November 2019 to June 2022, for “running his government over Facebook” and avoiding direct contact with the masses.
“We have responded to criticism with our work,” he said.
Shinde said the BJP-led NDA coalition at the Centre and the ruling Mahayuti (grand alliance) in the state were the future of the country and Maharashtra, respectively, while the Congress was history.
The ruling coalition in the state consists of the BJP, the Shiv Sena and the NCP led by Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar.
Shinde maintained the Congress, during its campaign for the Lok Sabha polls, falsely propagated that the Constitution will be changed by the BJP-led alliance.
It was the Congress that defeated BR Ambedkar, the chief architect of the Constitution, in Lok Sabha elections in the 1950s, the CM said, hitting out at the grand old party.
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