‘No change of leadership in Maharashtra': Devendra Fadnavis on rumours of cabinet reshuffle

Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Thursday (August 3) said that there have been numerous changes in the roles of the leaders but no more changes will be made and the leaders will remain in the positions they presently are in.Citing the government formation with Ajit Pawar in 2019, which lasted only for hours, Fadnavis said that he became the chief minister for the second time and Ajit Pawar became the Deputy CM for the first time.

“Ajit Pawar took oath as Deputy Chief Minister with me and then once again became Deputy Chief Minister in Uddhav Thackeray's cabinet. Then after our government came, he became the Leader of the Opposition, and once again became the Deputy Chief Minister. I also took oath as the Chief Minister in 2019, but our government did not work, so I became the leader of the opposition and once again became the Deputy Chief Minister. Now there will be no change, we will remain in the respective positions we are in,” Fadnavis said. Ajit Pawar joined the Shinde-Fadnavis government on July 2 this year, after effecting a vertical split in the NCP. He was sworn in as the Deputy CM and the other eight NCP MLAs who also switched sides took oath as ministers.