Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis: 'Cong-NCP accepted their defeat'

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Thursday took shots at the Indian National Congress (INC) and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP). The CM said that the two INC and NCP have already accepted their defeat ahead of the State Assembly elections.

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"Congress and NCP have already accepted their defeat. Their manifesto is made by people who know they are not coming to power, so they are making as many promises as they can," Fadnavis said addressing a public rally in Pimpri-Chinchwad in Maharashtra. 

'They know that for the next 15-20 years they will have to sit as the opposition'

The Chief Minister said that the only thing left for the INC-NCP alliance to promise is that they will provide Taj Mahal to every person of Maharashtra once they win. "They know that for the next 15-20 years they will have to sit as the opposition," Fadnavis added. "The elections are just 10-12 days away but I don't know who my opponent is. There is no 'Pahalwan'," he said. Using a reference from Bollywood, Fadnavis compared NCP leader Sharad Pawar to the 'jailor' played by Govardhan Asrani in the movie 'Sholay'. "Sharad Pawar's situation is such that 'aadhe idhar jaao aadhe udhar jaao aur bache hue mere peechhe aao' (half of you go here, the other half go there. Rest, follow me)," he added.

READ | Maharashtra Assembly Election Dates: Voting & Results Schedule Here

Maharashtra polls on October 21

There are 288 Assembly seats up for grabs in Maharashtra. The state will go to polls on October 21, 2019, the Election Commission had announced on September 21. The Assembly elections will be held in a single-phase and the counting procedure will be conducted on October 24. The Chief Election Commissioner of India Sunil Arora has informed that the parties in Maharashtra had wanted the polls to be concluded by Dhanteras.

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Schedule of the upcoming polls

• Issue of notification for both states (Haryana and Maharashtra) - 27 September
• last date of nomination - 4 October
• Scrutiny of nomination -5 October
• Withdrawal of nomination- 7 October
• Polling date for both states - 21 October (Single phase)
• Counting of votes - 24 October

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(With inputs from ANI)