Delhi poll outcome shows awareness about ‘Ek Hai Toh Safe Hai’: Devendra Fadnavis

PUNE: Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis on Saturday said Maharashtra understood the significance of "Ek Hai Toh Safe Hai" and the Delhi election outcome demonstrated the country's growing awareness of this concept's importance.
Fadnavis criticised former Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal and said he deceived the people of Delhi with false promises for years to form govt. "The Saturday's election outcome show that Delhi residents are no longer falling for those promises.BJP's victory in Delhi is historic, marking the party's return to power in the capital after 27 years," the CM said during his visit to Pune to attend some events.
Fadnavis said BJP saw a certain voting pattern in Maharashtra where "vote jihad" led to division of votes during the Lok Sabha election, resulting in the party losing 12 seats. He said the party's ‘Ek Hai Toh Safe Hai' campaign, however, helped the party return with a thumping majority in the Maharashtra assembly elections.
"During the assembly polls in the state, PM Narendra Modi came to Maharashtra and threw light on how we were getting divided on the basis of castes, which was giving power to the elements trying to spread anarchy in the country. The people of Maharashtra accepted his ‘Ek Hai Toh Safe Hai' slogan, and now people of Delhi have also responded positively to the concept. The entire country is realising the importance of unity," Fadnavis said.
State revenue minister and BJP's state president Chandrashekhar Bawankule also took a dig at Congress after the defeat in Delhi elections. He said the party would once again blame EVMs for the loss. "Congress never thought of people's development. Congress should blame itself for the defeat. It will soon come out with a statement that EVMs were faulty," Bawankule said.
BJP state president also dared leader of the opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi to contest against him from Kamthi constituency in Vidarbha in the 2029 elections. "I heard him raising doubts over my victory from Kamthi constituency. He should understand that BJP has been winning the seat for the last 25 years. I dare him to contest against me from Kamthi in 2029. I will certainly defeat him," he added.
‘Uddhav was hallucinating'
Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis on Saturday took a dig at Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray over his claim that BJP promised him a two-and-a-half-year term of CM's post during the pre-poll discussion in 2019. "In a movie, the way Munnabhai was getting hallucinations that he was communicating with Mahatma Gandhi, similarly, Thackeray was getting similar hallucinations that he was promised two-and-a-half years of CM's post," Fadnavis said on Saturday, while speaking about the pre-poll discussions in 2019 during an event in Pune.
Fadnavis said though Thackeray had put forth his demand of sharing the CM's post before 2019, Union minister Amit Shah had rejected it. "Thackeray called me at 1am and put forward the demand that he wanted two-and-a-half years of CM's post. I conveyed it to our then party president Amit Shah, who outrightly rejected it. Later, Thackeray had a meeting with Shah at Matoshree where I was also present. During the meeting, this issue was never discussed," the CM said.
He said after the poll results in 2019, Thackeray announced in a press conference that all options were open for his party. "Later, it became clear that Thackeray had a tacit understanding with then NCP chief Sharad Pawar. They had developed a pre-poll understanding where Pawar's party helped Sena (undivided), and Thackeray helped Pawar to restrict BJP in the 2019 state polls," Fadnavis said.