Have done in five years what others failed to do in 15: Devendra Fadnavis

My priority is to make the State ‘Congress-mukt’, says new State BJP chief Chandrakant Patil

Confident trio: Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis with State unit BJP president Chandrakant Patil (centre) and Mumbai president Mangal Prabhat Lodha at the party head quarter in Mumbai on Wednesday.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will get a bigger voter share in the Assembly elections than it did in the general elections this year, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said here on Wednesday while welcoming the new State and city unit BJP chiefs.

Speaking at a function to mark the formal induction of Chandrakant Patil as the Maharashtra BJP president and Mangal Prabhat Lodha as the Mumbai unit president, Mr. Fadnavis said his government has done in five years what previous governments failed to do in 15 years. This, he added, was enough to ensure a second term for the BJP-Shiv Sena coalition.

“We have shown in the last five years we do not want power for the sake of power. It is to change the life of the common man. The aim of this government when it will come back to power will be to make Maharashtra the number one State. We have achieved significant growth in the past five years inindustry, health and education. We want to do the same for the next five years,” he said at the party’s head office at Nariman Point.

Both Mr. Patil and Mr. Lodha on Wednesday gave a clarion call to party workers to oust Congress from Mumbai and the State. Mr. Lodha said the party must make the most of the golden phase in its expansion and eliminate the Congress from the financial capital. “Simple workers like me have got a big responsibility. We want to rid Mumbai of the Congress in the next one year,” he said.

Considered number two in the Devendra Fadnavis-led cabinet, Mr. Patil replaces Raosaheb Danve, who resigned as the state BJP chief after his induction into the Union cabinet.

Mr. Patil said making the State “Congress-mukt” was his priority and added that BJP will look to secure over 51% of the vote share along with ally Sena. He was confident of making inroads into the strongholds of Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP).

When asked if the party would breach Baramati — NCP’s stronghold — he said the party would do what senior leader Smriti Irani did to win Amethi. “She kept going there (Amethi) day after day. On the same lines, we will win Baramati by 2024 and eliminate Congress and the NCP from State,” he said.

He, however, admitted that defeating NCP leader Ajit Pawar in Baramati would be like day- dreaming.

“NCP won got a lead of 1.20 lakh votes in the Lok Sabha elections in Baramati. It is difficult to cover it in this Assembly elections. But I have set the target of winning Baramati LS seat in 2024,” Mr. Patil said.