Maharashtra Assembly Elections 2024: Fadnavis hits back at Congress' personal attacks, accuses Pawar of being 'Master' party breaker

BJP leader and Maharashtra Dy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis. (Pic/PTI)

Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has lashed out at Congress leader Kanhaiya Kumar for launching personal attacks against his family, particularly his wife Amruta. Fadnavis claimed that these attacks were a result of the opposition's inability to defeat him politically, reported the ANI.

"The Prime Minister is not wrong when he says that there should be a focus on women's development and women-led social reforms. In the last five years, when Congress leader Kanhaiya Kumar could not do anything against me in any of the investigations he carried out, he started personal attacks against me and his troll army started accusing my wife on the Instagram reels she made," Fadnavis told ANI.

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The BJP leader expressed confidence in the eventual triumph of truth and added, "If a civilised person saw the trolls made against my wife, they would be highly embarrassed. I told my wife that considering that we are in politics, we have to be patient and that truth can be troubled, but not defeated."

The Deputy Chief Minister strongly condemned the trolls targeting his wife, stating, "The way they behaved and made memes about my wife and wrote bad things about her, they should drown in water. If you want to fight, come and fight in the front. What is this kind of war that you are fighting? I am very patient in this matter. I understand their fight and I will defeat them."

Recently Congress leader Kanhaiya Kuamr in Nagpur took aim at Fadnavis' recent "Dharamyudh" remark and said that the job of "saving religion" should not be reduced to political rhetoric while the Deputy Chief Minister's wife engages in "making Instagram reels."

Fadnavis also highlighted the positive impact of BJP's women-centric policies, noting increased female participation in political rallies.

He said, "I have toured the whole of Maharashtra, I see a very positive feeling. Especially because of our women-centric policy, I see a lot of positivity among women voters. Earlier, 75% men and 25% women attended our rallies, now 50% women participation is seen. I think because of this positivity, we have an edge and we will form the government with an absolute majority."

In a separate statement, Fadnavis accused Nationalist Congress Party (SP) chief Sharad Pawar of being the "Bhishma Pitamah" of breaking political parties and families. He attributed recent party splits to personal ambitions, citing examples of Uddhav Thackeray and Ajit Pawar.

Fadnavis said, "I don't think it will have any impact. If there is a master in Maharashtra in breaking families, breaking parties, uniting them and then breaking them again, it is Sharad Pawar. If we make a list of how many parties and families he has broken since 1978, then he will have to be called the 'Bhishma Pitamah' of breaking parties and families..."

Fadnavis further pointed out the "personal ambition" of some leaders of the poll-bound state.

"This party (Shiv Sena) broke due to excessive ambitions, Uddhav ji wanted to become the Chief Minister, so he broke ties with us. After becoming the CM, he wanted to bring Aaditya Thackeray forward, so in a way he tried to suffocate Eknath Shinde, so Eknath Shinde had no option left. On the other hand, Sharad Pawar ji made Ajit Pawar, who has been leading the party for 30 years, a villain because he wanted to oust Supriya Sule from the party. Ajit Pawar was left with no choice. This happened due to personal ambition..." Fadnavis said.

The Maharashtra assembly elections are set for November 20, with results to be announced on November 23. Both the ruling Mahayuti and the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) are intensifying their campaign efforts across the state's 288 assembly seats.

(With inputs from ANI)