I will remain chief minister, no possibility of shifting to Centre as of now: Devendra Fadnavis

Mumbai: Seeking to dispel speculation in a section of media over his continuance as Maharashtra chief minister, Devendra Fadnavis on Thursday said there was no possibility at the moment of his moving to Delhi. “There is no possibility as of now of my shifting to the Centre,” he said, adding he will continue as the chief minister “till Delhi calls”. Addressing the state BJP executive meeting at Borivali in north Mumbai, Fadnavis also ruled out replacement of Maharashtra BJP president Raosaheb Danve from the post. [caption id=“attachment_3874239” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of Devendra Fadnavis. PTI[/caption] “There is no question of removing Danve. We will contest coming elections under his leadership,” he said. Fadnavis was sworn in as the chief minister in October 2014. Speaking at the meeting, he came down heavily on members of the steering committee of farmer groups who had announced that guardian ministers would not be allowed to unfurl the national flag at district headquarters on 15 August if the government failed to announce ‘unconditional loan-waiver’. “Those preventing guardian ministers from unfurling the national flag are deshdrohi (traitors),” he said. “We won’t spare anyone who prevents us from hoisting the national flag, even if it means losing power,” Fadnavis said. Seeking total (unconditional) loan waiver is akin to creating anarchy, he said. He also praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi for “changing the political system riddled with corruption”, and adding “only Modi can achieve the dream of a developed India.” The BJP meeting was held against the backdrop of reports of imminent change of guard in the state unit as well as a reshuffle in the state cabinet. The meeting, held at Prabodhankar Thakare Auditorium, came a day after a meeting of the state BJP’s core committee. Fadnavis also lauded the contribution of the party’s state organising secretary Ravindra Bhusari who stepped down last month citing the reason that he had turned 60 and wanted to be relieved of the responsibility. Meanwhile, on 19 August, senior BJP leader and Union finance minister Arun Jaitley will release two compilations of the late Bal Thackeray’s interviews published in the Shiv Sena mouthpiece ‘Saamana’. Nationalist Congress Party president Sharad Pawar will preside over the event at which Sena president Uddhav Thackeray will be present.