Gadkari's 'anything can happen in cricket & politics' quip resonates with new BJP-NCP govt

As BJP and NCP join hands on Saturday to form the next Maharashtra government, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari's words highlighting the highly unpredictable nature of Indian cricket and politics succinctly summarise the current political scenario in Maharashtra. Addressing a public gathering in Mumbai on November 14, Gadkari had stated the result in both were always the opposite. He had also stated that irrespective of the government, the state's infrastructure projects will continue as scheduled.

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Gadkari: "Anything can happen in cricket and politics"

"Anything can happen in cricket and politics. Somewhere you will feel that you are losing the match, but the result is exactly opposite to that," he said. When asked about the Maharashtra government formation, he added, "The party who is forming the government will give an appropriate answer for that. In Indian experience, this will not create a difference, with respect to projects".

Here is the video of Gadkari's quip:

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Fadnavis takes oath as CM

Meanwhile, pulling the biggest surprise in Maharashtra politics, Devendra Fadnavis took oath as the Chief Minister of Maharashtra in the presence of Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari at Raj Bhawan around 8 AM. NCP leader Ajit Pawar was sworn in as his Deputy CM. With Fadnavis taking oath as the next CM the BJP with 105 seats, NCP with 54 seats, independent MLAs and allies will combine to form the next government in Maharashtra. Final government strength is still awaited. The governor has given BJP November 30 as the deadline to prove their majority.

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Shiv Sena MLAs rebel, Pawar distances from Ajit Pawar

Meanwhile, sources have reported that 22 Shiv Sena MLAs have broken away to support the BJP-led government. Moreover, Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut has claimed that Ajit Pawar has betrayed the Shiv Sena-NCP-Congress alliance, by taking oath as deputy CM of Maharashtra. NCP Supremo Sharad Pawar has tweeted that the decision to support the Fadnavis-led government was not supported by the NCP, adding that this was a personal decision of Ajit Pawar himself. While BJP claims Ajit Pawar has the support of all 54 NCP MLAs, NCP sources have reported that Ajit Pawar at least has 30 MLAs support. Earlier on Friday, after the joint meeting of Congress, Shiv Sena and NCP, Sharad Pawar in a massive statement revealed that there was unanimity on Uddhav Thackeray being the Chief Minister of Maharashtra and two Deputy CMs- one each from Congress and NCP.

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BJP-Shiv Sena tussle

Almost a month after the Mahayuti was awarded the mandate during the Maharashtra Assembly polls, the state was awaiting a government formation while being under President's rule. As the  BJP-Shiv Sena's 'Mahyuti' of 35 years fell out at the state-level, after Maharashtra Assembly polls with Sena supremo Uddhav Thackeray insisting a 50-50 sharing of Chief Minister post for 2.5 years and portfolios and Fadnavis refused to these demands, the Shiv Sena had allied with the NCP-Congress combination to form a new alliance - 'Maha Vikas Aghadi'. The Mahayuti alliance swept Maharashtra on October 24, winning a combined tally of 161 (BJP- 105, Sena -56). Meanwhile, the Maha Agadhi alliance (NCP-Congress) won  98 seats (NCP- 54, Congress- 44 ). The halfway mark in 144 in the 288 seat-Assembly.