Maharashtra deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis has said that the Mahayuti government has reached a consensus for 80% seats to be contested in the upcoming assembly elections and discussions for remaining 20% seats are on. Speaking at the India Today Conclave in Mumbai, Fadnavis said that the alliance now needs to work for win ability rather than perception.

Ruling out the possibility of a rotational CM if the Mahayuti returns to power, Fadnavis said, “BJP is the number one party in Maharashtra and remain so.”

Speaking on the retaliatory firing by the police of Akshay Shinde, who was accused to have sexually assaulted two school girls at a Badlapur school, after he snatched the pistol of a policeman and shot at the escorting team when he was being taken to Badlapur from Taloja jail, Fadnavis said, “We don’t believe in encounters. The rule of law must be followed. (But) if a criminal shoots at our policemen, police will not clap. It will retaliate and it retaliated.”

While the Bombay high court has raised many questions about the manner of shooting by police, Fadanvis said proper and fair investigation will take  place. He said police must be allowed to work; CID will do its own investigation.

Speaking on Dharavi redevelopment, the deputy CM said the tender for its redevelopment was floated when he was the CM. Later when Uddhav Thackeray became the CM, the tender was cancelled and the new conditions were prepared by his cabinet that allowed TDR without  any cap. When the government changed and the Mahayuti came to power, it brought in capping on TDR, allowing TDR on 90% value. Also the TDR would reflect on digital platform making it transparent.

He added  that tender conditions finalised by the Uddhav Thackeray government allowed rehabilitation of only 70,000 people living on ground floor. But when the Mahayuti came to power it allowed a the cutoff date of 2011 and included those living on the first floor for rehabilitation. Others, he said, will be shifted elsewhere on rental housing for 10 years after which their tenancy will be converted their ownership.

He further added that 18% area in Dharavi redevelopment will go for creation of roads, 17% for creation of a green belt. Overall, 45% to 50% land will go for reservation. He added that 10% land will be reserved to rehabilitate existing industry with a five-year tax break. “Around 40% land will be used for reahabilitation out of which funds for cross-subsidy will also be created."

Speaking at the Conclave earlier, senior Congress leader and former Maharashtra chief minister Prithviraj Chavan said there is no need to have one leader in the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) and expressed confidence that the alliance will win back Maharashtra in the upcoming assembly elections. “There is no need to have one leader in MVA. We will have a common manifesto. The Congress deserves maximum seats. We walked into the alliance as junior partner but in the Lok Sabha elections, we got more seats.”

Chavan also said the formation of the opposition INDIA bloc, an alliance of several parties before the 2024 Lok Sabha polls to take on the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), was a masterstroke even though “not a perfect alliance”, noting that it successfully avoided a split in opposition votes.

Chavan said that every election is different and political parties can’t be overconfident.

The elections to the 288-member state assembly are likely to be held in November.

On the Mahayuti government’s flagship Ladki Bahin Yojana, for providing financial assistance to women, Chavan said the scheme of empowering women was a Congress idea. He said that empowering women through financial aid was a Congress initiative and described the Ladki Bahin Yojana as a means of recognising the unpaid work women perform in raising the next generation.

“A scheme is being implemented in Karnataka and Telangana where women get Rs 2,000 (per month). There is no question why the Congress will not implement it in Maharashtra," he said.