Mumbai, Oct 22 (IANS) Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Wednesday set at rest speculation about moving to Delhi, asserting that he will continue in the present post till 2029.

He also stated that the present composition of the MahaYuti government will not be changed.

“I will continue as Maharashtra Chief Minister till 2029. As far as I know, my party, Delhi, is still far away,” he noted.

Fadnavis, during his interaction with the reporters on the occasion of Diwali at his official residence, Varsha, said there will be no cabinet reshuffle in Maharashtra, as not even a year has passed since the cabinet expansion took place.

“After a year, we will review the work of all the ministers and then a decision about a cabinet reshuffle will be made,” he added.

He further stated that there will be no new partners or swapping of partners as the present dissension comprising – BJP, Shiv Sena, and NCP will remain unchanged.

Fadnavis criticised the opposition for making allegations with regard to discrepancies in the state voters’ list in the run-up to the upcoming local and civic body polls to be completed by January 31, 2026, as per the Supreme Court order.

He slammed the opposition parties for objecting to the electoral rolls to create a perception for the local and civic body polls.

“They have not raised objections and given suggestions on the voters’ list, and also oppose a complete revision of the voters’ list. The opposition wants to get the local and civic body elections postponed, but they don’t have a solid reason. They don’t speak about the voters’ list in the Bihar campaign now,” he said.

He added that the opposition parties feel the local and civic body polls can be problematic for them. Fadnavis said that the BJP will soon expose how the existing electoral rolls have helped the opposition.

On the MahaYuti fighting together as a grand alliance, the ensuing local and civic body polls in the state, Fadnavis said, “It is not the case that we will contest together in all the municipal corporations. In many places, the BJP is number one, and in others, someone else is second. This would be a disadvantage for us, so in some places we will contest separately. The MahaYuti will make politically wise alliances for the local and civic body polls. In the Mumbai Metropolitan Region, the ruling partners will go for pre-poll alliances, while at other places, there can be poll tie-ups.”

On the coming together of Uddhav Thackeray and Raj Thackeray in the BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation elections, he said that “If Raj Thackeray says I bought the two brothers close on the issue of Marathi, I take it as a compliment.”

“I was earlier criticised for breaking parties. No third party can break a political party. Only ambitions and injustice can break parties,” he noted.

He pointed out that he hopes Thackeray brogues stay together even after the local and civic body elections.

He said that the “Thackeray brand” means only Shiv Sena founder Bal Thackeray and no one else.

To a question that he was facilitating the tie-up between Raj and Uddhav Thackeray to unsettle Eknath Shinde, Fadnavis said, “ Just like I have a relationship with Raj Thackeray, Eknath Shinde also enjoys the same kind of relations.”

–IANS

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