Row over Hegde remark on Fadnavis oath-taking

NEWDELHI/MUMBAI: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Parliament member Anant Kumar Hegde again embarrassed his party on Monday by claiming that the swearing-in of Devendra Fadnavis as Maharashtra chief minister last month was a pre-planned move to ensure funds worth ~40,000 crore were returned to the Centre.

Fadnavis immediately denied the claim, which is the latest in a series of Hegde’s controversial statements that have made the BJP uncomfortable. He maintained that he did not take any major policy decisions when he was the chief minister for a few days. “Anyone who understands how Central and state governments’ accounting systems work will not make such statements. The state finance department can probe this. I think those, who make such statements and others who are giving reactions to them, are both wrong,” Fadnavis said.

Hegde, who is a five-time lawmaker from Karnataka’s Uttara

Kannada, claimed that Fadnavis knew if the Congress, NCP and Shiv Sena government comes to power, it would misuse the funds meant for development. “So it was decided that there should be a drama. Fadnavis became CM [chief minister], and in 15 hours, he moved ~40,000 crore back to the Centre,” news agency ANI quoted Hedge as saying.

Fadnavis was sworn in before 8am on November 23. But the Bjp-led government in the state collapsed last week, paving the way for the Sena-ncp-congress combine to take power.

Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut called it treachery against Maharashtra.

“An union minister has taken it upon himself to expose the Modi government, and BJP’S anti-maharashtra mask is off. Have we now let go of the federal structure completely, and are we going to reply to the goodness of the people by withdrawing Rs 40,000 crore meant for them? The Prime Minister must reply,” Congress’s chief spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala said in a tweet.