After being appointed deputy chief minister, Fadnavis claims to have become intolerant and haughty, and BJP leaders protest

Devendra Fadnavis, a top BJP politician and the former chief minister of Maharashtra, was accused on Saturday by the Shiv Sena (UBT) of being intolerant and haughty ever since he was appointed deputy CM, prompting harsh responses from the saffron party. The party said in an editorial published in its organ Saamana’ that Fadnavis had previously been tolerant but had turned into an intolerant and conceited person out of dissatisfaction after being appointed deputy chief minister.

But the governing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) took issue with the editorial’s wording in the Marathi newspaper, whose executive editor is party Rajya Sabha member Sanjay Raut and whose editor is Sena (UBT) chairman Uddhav Thackeray. Chandrashekhar Bawankule, the leader of the Maharashtra BJP, advised political opponents to be criticized politely. Additionally, he threatened to file a complaint against Saamana’ and urged an end to its hate speech. In the evening, the BJP’s youth branch and a few party officials launched a protest. When the BJP and Shiv Sena (undivided) shared control in the state from 2014 to 2019, Fadnavis served as its chief minister. The two parties split apart over sharing the position of chief minister after the 2019 assembly elections. Later, Thackeray teamed up with the Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) to create the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) administration. The Thackeray-led administration, however, was overthrown in June 2022 when Eknath Shinde, a prominent party official, revolted with 39 other MLAs and allied himself with the BJP. Fadnavis was appointed as Shinde’s deputy, while Shinde was appointed chief minister.

Ajit Pawar, a prominent NCP leader, and the MLAs from his party joined the Shinde administration last month, and Pawar was appointed deputy chief minister. Devendra Fadnavis would have won the 2019 assembly elections if he hadn’t deceived the Shiv Sena, according to the editorial. However, the leading members of his party in Delhi demoted him and appointed him deputy chief minister.

Before becoming the deputy CM, Fadnavis was a patient guy, but his annoyance caused him to become intolerant and haughty.It said that they forced him to work with Ajit Pawar as the deputy chief minister, which made his problems worse. Fadnavis was the one who previously said that he would lock Ajit Pawar up and make sure he received a harsh sentence. But the party questioned, “What exactly is Fadnavis doing now by sharing power with the same Ajit Pawar?”

It said that Fadnavis should take care of himself. It also stated that people facing major corruption cases and accusations of abuse against women are now Fadnavis’ coworkers. Sena (UBT) was criticized by Bawankule for the editorial that singled out Fadnavis. He attacked Uddhav Thackeray, claiming that after losing his party and his position of power, he had lost his mind.

Whenever Shiv Sena (UBT) president Uddhav Thackeray wants to criticize someone, he either uses the “Saamana” daily or requests Sanjay Raut to issue a remark, according to Bawankule, speaking to media today in Nagpur. He said that Thackeray is dissatisfied and perplexed.

He even misplaced his party’s emblem. Because he is unable to regain his position of authority, Bawankule continued. Thackeray said that the NCP and BJP are now working together and that he has learned from his error in backstabbing Fadnavis in 2019.

He objected to the editorial’s wording, saying there should be a limit when a publication criticizes political opponents. Soon, our leaders will make a choice on this.Mumbai might see a scene akin to a protest. We’ll examine more closely at this newspaper’s rights and how they’re being used (against us). We’re going to whine about Saamana. Saamana’ ought to quit spreading hatred of this kind. He promised to make our position clear.

He said that the BJP could no longer accept the manner in which some things were published in Saamana’ in the name of freedom. The Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM) and a few BJP officials, including MLA Mihir Kotecha and the state vice president of the party Kripashankar Singh, staged a demonstration outside their offices close to Mantralaya in the evening. In his remarks to the media, Kotecha referred to Fadnavis as a “development man.” Language used towards Fadnavis is very inappropriate. Let me assure Sena (UBT) that we will react aggressively if they believe we are incapable of doing so. Whoever is still inside the MVA, according to the MLA, has become insane. He said that similar demonstrations were also taking place in other areas of Mumbai.

Sanjay Raut, executive editor of Saamana, has been threatened with beatings with shoes, according to a BJYM member. Saamana’ copies were also set afire by the demonstrators.