Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal has stated that the BJP’s alliance with the Shiv Sena will be maintained and that both parties will run in the next Maharashtra assembly elections together. “Eknath Shinde will remain, Chief Minister,” he said.

Piyush Goyal was responding to Rajat Sharma’s questions on ‘Aap Ki Adalat’. His response follows speculation that NCP supremo Sharad Pawar’s nephew Ajit Pawar might defect to the BJP with his supporters.

“I want to make it clear that Eknath Shinde Ji is the chief minister of Maharashtra and the leader of the Shiv Sena,” Goyal said. The Shiv Sena-BJP coalition government is doing a great job for the people of Maharashtra. Come see how fast Maharashtra is developing. The Nagpur-Mumbai expressway is being built at super express speed, Metro lines are being built, and religious tourism destinations are being developed. Shinde and Devendra Fadnavis Ji are collaborating to better serve the people.”

“I want to tell you, Both Shinde and Fadnavis will jointly run the Shiv Sena-BJP government. It is a stable government, and under the guidance of Prime Minister Modi Ji, they will serve Maharashtra. We will sweep the next elections in Maharashtra. The people of the state were groaning when the Maha Vikas Aghadi government was in power,” he added

Asked whether NCP leader Ajit Pawar will join the BJP camp with his supporters, Piyush Goyal replied, ” Yeh kamaal ki party hai. This is a party where the leader says, I am resigning or retiring. Then a charade is enacted (dhong racha jata hai). Then there is reconciliation, and the family members are appointed. Parties work for the nation only when they work based on workers and their ability. These are dynastic (pariwaarwadi) parties, where the posts are kept reserved for family members. The people of India will reply to such dynasties. We need not worry, who is coming with us or not. Good people normally join our party.”

Asked why 40 MLAs were ‘stolen’ when the MVA was in power in Maharashtra, Goyal replied, “We did not steal any MLA. If 40 out of 54 MLAs want that they need freedom from corrupt and inefficient leadership, then the real Shiv Sena belongs to those 40 MLAs, and only a handful remained, which is not the real Sena. We did not steal. I think, the legislators who remained, have been stolen. (chura ke rakha gaya hai).”

On Karnataka elections
On Karnataka, Goyal was confident that the BJP will retain power. He said, Congress has three claimants for the post of chief minister, Siddaramaiah, D.K. Shiv Kumar and Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge himself.

Goyal said, “During Rahul Gandhi’s ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’, we were surprised why his yatra did not go through those states where elections were on. We were surprised about the secret behind this. Today, I see in Karnataka and I now understand the real reason. The reality is that,it was not ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’, he was doing ‘Party Jodo Yatra’ in Karnataka. There are three claimants for the chief minister’s post. Siddaramaiah is unwilling to leave his claim and wants to become CM again, D. K. Shiv Kumar does not want to leave his aspirations for CM post.”

“Now their all-India president Mallikarjun Kharge has jumped in. He says, forget these two fighting among themselves. As Congress president, I am the most capable one for CM post. So that ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’ was to bring unity among the three. The Yatra did not even enter Gujarat, where the election was going on. In Karnataka, I do not find Rahul campaigning. I think their leaders have told him not to come, otherwise, their margin of defeat will increase,” he added.