Amidst Maratha agitation in Maharastra, Ravi Rana led six independent MLAs, including him, have threatened to withdraw support from the BJP led state government if the Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis is removed from the post.
Ravi Rana, Independent MLA from Amravati said, “The CM is being targeted under the guise of the Maratha protests, he is committed to resolving the issue, we are going to write to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah that we would withdraw our support to the government if he is replaced as CM,” reported Economic Times.
The Maratha protests demanding reservation turned violent and chaotic recently leading to doubts over the rule of Fadnavis as a leader.
Rana’s statement came after Shiv Sena’s MP Sanjay Raut made headlines claiming that there were “talks within the BJP” to replace Fadnavis. He said, “Amit Shah( BJP chief) and (Prime Minister) Narendra Modi will take the final decision on changing the leadership in the state. But there is talk within BJP of changing the chief minister.”
However, Maharashtra BJP soon came to deny Raut’s statement. Forest Minister Sudhir Mungantiwar refuted his claims stating there were no such talks within the party.
A senior BJP leader told Hindustan Times, “Why should Raut be taken seriously? There is no such talk within the party. The agitation is clearly backed by the NCP and is intended to target the CM, with elections likely to be held in less than a year.”
He added, “He (Fadnavis) enjoys complete confidence of our top leadership. But we could have handled the protests better by engaging with the agitators in Solapur itself and avoiding the promise of reservation for Marathas in the mega recruitment”, reported Hindustan Times.