Pankaja Munde called to say CM comment twisted, says Fadnavis

NAGPUR/MUMBAI: A day after Pankaja Munde “entered the race” for the chief minister’s post during an informal chat with the media, state BJP president Devendra Fadnavis on Saturday said that she had been misquoted.
“She herself called me up to explain that only half her statements were aired or printed,” Fadnavis said. “She was upset over the statements attributed to her that appeared in the media.”
Besides Fadnavis, several senior BJP functionaries had a talk with Munde.They advised her to exercise restraint while talking to mediapersons, it was learnt.
Fadnavis, the front-runner among the probables for the first BJP chief minister of the state, was in the second capital for a short visit and was congratulated by hordes of well-wishers.
He said the CM’s name would be finalized by the parliamentary board of the party.
“We have many eligible candidates and the entire party and MLAs will stand solidly behind the one finally chosen,” he said. “Since the party is united, an attempt is being made by some to break it.”
Avoiding any response on joining hands with the Shiv Sena again, Fadnavis said that the BJP contested the election primarily against the Congress and the NCP and that it never had any enmity with its erstwhile partner.
“But we’re deeply hurt over their [Shiv Sena politicians’] recent statements against Prime Minister Narendra Modi,” he said.
Confident that the BJP would secure an absolute majority and would not need to align with any party, Fadnavis said that Vidarbha would fetch the party maximum seats. “Of the 150 seats we expect to win, BJP will throw up at least 40 MLAs from the region,” he said.
Besides Fadnavis, the names said to have been short-listed for CM by the BJP central leadership are Eknath Khadse and Vinod Tawde.
“We expect to go beyond 160 Vidhan Sabha seats,” Tawde said. “The election of the legislature party leader and assumption of office will be smooth.”
On Friday, Munde’s comments, made before a section of the media, including television news channels, had taken the state BJP by surprise. She had said that she would be happy if the party offered her the chief ministership.
“My supporters want me to be CM, and it was my father’s dream as well,” the daughter of the late Gopinath Munde said.
A key BJP functionary said the young Munde was not well-versed in the art of political interviews.
“She must have got carried away in the course of off-the-record conversation,” the functionary said.
On counting day, to ensure the party speaks in one voice, a team of spokespersons will interact with a gaggle of news channels from the state BJP headquarters, said party spokesperson Madhav Bhandari.
The party also asked its senior leaders to remain present at its Backbay Reclamation HQ.