NEW DELHI: Union home minister Amit Shah on Sunday exuded confidence that the ruling Mahayuti will return to power as he released BJP’s manifesto for the upcoming assembly polls in Maharashtra. Amit Shah also said the decision to name the chief minister’s face will be taken by the alliance partners only after the completion of the polls.
“At present, Eknath Shinde is the chief minister. After the elections, all the three alliance partners will decide on the chief minister,” Shah said.
The home minister said the Shiv Sena and NCP split because Uddhav Thackeray prioritised his son over Eknath Shinde while Sharad Pawar prioritised his daughter over Ajit Pawar.
“These parties gave priority to their family members and the parties split. They blame the BJP for no reason,” he said.
The ruling alliance, Mahayuti includes the BJP, chief minister Eknath Shinde’s Shiv Sena faction, and the Ajit Pawar-led NCP faction.
Shah, who unveiled the BJP’s manifesto today, said that all the three alliance partners have released their manifestos and a committee of minister will be constituted after elections to ensure the implementation of the promises made.
Amit Shah said the BJP was against “family-based politics” and dismissed Congress’ allegations that the BJP seeks to undermine reservations. “It is the Modi government which gave reservations to OBCs. In fact, we strengthen the reservations,” he said.
Shah also hit out at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, saying Gandhi’s attempt with the Constitution “has been exposed” after allegedly the book he carried contained blank pages. “He has now become the butt of a joke,” Shah said.
Responding to opposition criticism of the Mahayuti government’s Ladki Bahin scheme for women, Shah pointed out that the MVA had made a similar promise but with a higher financial aid, exposing “their contradictions.” He urged Gandhi to focus on “what is happening in the states ruled by his party” instead of assessing BJP’s performance.
Shah further denied MVA’s claims that Maharashtra is falling behind in investment, noting, “During the MVA rule, Maharashtra was at the 4th position (in terms of FDI) while in the last two years, the state has got the highest FDI.”
