05 December,2023 09:55 AM IST | Bhandara | mid-day online correspondent
Devendra Fadnavis/ File Photo
When Maharashtra party unit chief Chandrashekhar Bawankule asked for their preference for the next chief minister during an event in Bhandara, located 800 kilometres from Mumbai, Bharatiya Janata Party workers expressed support for senior leader Devendra Fadnavis.
Addressing the party members at Mumbai's Wankhede Stadium, Bawankule asked who they saw as the next Chief Minister, prompting chants of "Devendra Fadnavis...Devendra Fadnavis" from the enthusiastic crowd.
Recognising the enthusiastic response, Bawankule urged party members to work tirelessly to make this dream a reality. He said, "Party workers must work hard to realise this dream."
Last year's schism by Eknath Shinde brought down the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government and he later formed a government with Devendra Fadnavis as his deputy.
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Fadnavis, who was the state's chief minister from 2014 to 2019, previously stated during the 2019 assembly elections, "I will be back."
The BJP-Shiv Sena alliance splintered following the 2019 state elections due to disagreements over the CM's position. Following that, Uddhav Thackeray joined forces with the NCP and Congress to form the MVA government under his leadership.
Bawankule, previously, expressed confidence that the 'Mahayuti' will win over 45 seats in Maharashtra in Lok Sabha polls due next year after the BJP stood victor in assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh. Speaking to reporters in Nagpur, he had said that the 'Mahayuti' will win around 225 assembly seats in the Maharashtra assembly elections which are also due in 2024.
According to the report, Bawankule said that the party workers are in a mood to revel since the public endorsed welfare schemes and women empowerment schemes that the PM introduced.
"There is a similar atmosphere in Maharashtra where the Mahayuti under the leadership of Prime Minister Modi will win more than 45 Lok Sabha seats (out of the total 48 in the state). The Mahayuti will also win around 225 assembly seats in Maharashtra (out of the total 288), such is the situation in the state," Bawankule told PTI.
Meanwhile, Fadnavis, while speaking to the reporters, said that he was very happy with the BJP's performance in the assembly polls.
With PTI inputs
