Striking a combative note, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Thursday said that during the recent state elections, the BJP-led alliance demolished the fake narrative spread by the Opposition in the Lok Sabha poll campaign.
Replying to a debate in the legislative assembly on the motion of thanks to the Governor for his joint address to both Houses of the state legislature, he asked the Opposition to introspect and accept the people's mandate it got in the assembly elections instead of blaming the EVMs.
He was a modern-day "Abhimanyu" who knew how to break the "chakravyuh", Fadnavis said, invoking the Mahabharata imagery.
He also assured that all the ongoing schemes of the government, including the flagship Ladki Bahin scheme for financial aid to women, will continue.
The winter session of the state legislature is underway in Nagpur following the BJP-led Mahayuti's massive victory in the November 20 assembly elections.
Lashing out at the Opposition for blaming the electronic voting machines (EVMs) for the Mahayuti alliance's win in the state elections, he said, "EVM means 'every vote for Maharashtra' which we got." "If you win, it is people's mandate and victory of democracy. But if you lose, blame it on EVMs and the Election Commission of India (ECI). You are creating mistrust about the institutions which have constitutional authority. It is an insult of the people and the Constitution which gave them the right to vote," Fadnavis said.
"When you reject people's mandate, you insult people who have been given the right to vote by the Constitution. We are the fifth largest economy and now aiming to reach the third position. But many countries are not happy with this. So we have to be careful,'' he said.
Trials for EVMs began on August 6, 1980 and the devices were first used in 1992. These machines were used in all Lok Sabha constituencies in 2004, he said.
In the 2004 and 2009 Lok Sabha elections, the Congress won, the CM said.
Later, the ECI asked political parties to show how EVMs can be tampered with. But nobody went ahead, he said, adding that opposition parties must accept the mandate with open mind and introspect.
"In the assembly elections, we destroyed your fake narrative spread during the Lok Sabha polls. We introspected after the Lok Sabha poll losses and worked hard to counter your fake narrative. We did not blame EVMs, but worked hard for the assembly polls," he said.
Fadnavis said people responded well to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's slogan "Ek hain toh safe hain" slogan as they believed that Maharashtra will progress only if society stays united.
Maharashtra responded to the appeal and Mahayuti got a resounding success, he added.
"Between 2019 and 2024, the way I was targeted by my opponents, people sympathised with me. I thank my critics for spoiling the atmosphere as it created sympathy for me. The state has seen my work without bias of caste and region," he said.
Attempts to polarise the society were foiled as people became united, the CM said.
Fifty per cent votes were polled by the Mahayuti, he said.
''I am a modern-day Abhimanyu. I can break the chakravyuh. The credit goes to my party and my colleagues," he said.
He asked the Opposition to beware of those using them to spread anarchy in the country.
Some organisations, which were declared as the frontal organisations of urban Naxals by the Congress-NCP government in Maharashtra and the Manmohan Sngh government at the Centre, participated in the Bharat Jodo Yatra, he alleged.
"Their aim is to create confusion among people about the constitutional bodies in the country. This is not about questioning your patriotism, but you should realise who is using you,'' Fadnavis said.
He said the Mahayuti government has to fulfil people's expectations as the massive mandate it has got has brought a lot of responsibilities.
"We will be working 24 /7 and ensure citizens of all castes and religions get benefits of development,'' he said.
All assurances and ongoing schemes will be implemented by the government, he said.
The December instalment of the Ladki Bahin scheme will be deposited in the bank accounts of eligible women by the end of this month, the chief minister stated.
"There will be no blanket checking of the beneficiaries, but only the cases where a single beneficiary has opened four to five accounts and where men have opened bank accounts instead of women to avail of the benefits of the Ladki Bahin scheme will be checked," he said.
He said his government will respond to the Opposition's criticism by its work and fight its fake narrative with a direct narrative.
"There are 10 states in the country that are competing with each other (to attract investment)...It is a competitive federalism...Investment projects are coming in all regions of the state. We are the number one state in foreign direct investment (FDI)," he said.
We have to stop extortionsts from being given political patronage, he said.
On the development projects, he said the fourth Mumbai will come up around the Vasai-Virar belt in Palghar, while the third Mumbai will be set up around the Atal Setu bridge.
The third airport (in the Mumbai metropolitan region) will come up around the proposed Vadhvan Port in Palghar, he said.
For the next five years, no electricity bills will be given to farmers, he said.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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