CM Devendra Fadnavis puts an end to discussions regarding the two-and-a-half-year CM term.

"Balasaheb has a large room, and in that room..."

What exactly did CM Fadnavis say?
CM Devendra Fadnavis on Uddhav Thackeray: In 2014, the Shiv Sena-BJP alliance had broken up. An attempt was made to re-establish it in February 2019. When Amit Shah and Fadnavis went to Matoshree, it was rumored that a commitment was made in a closed room for a two-and-a-half-year term. But after nine months, when the results of the assembly elections were announced, the alliance broke within an hour. BJP was accused of betraying and not fulfilling its promises. Senior journalist and writer Bhau Torsekar asked CM Fadnavis whether they, including Amit Shah and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, had said it would be a two-and-a-half-year term. Fadnavis then clarified everything about the matter during a speech at the "Jaipur Dialogue" event in Pune.

While answering the question about giving Uddhav Thackeray a word for the two-and-a-half-year CM term, Fadnavis said, "When the Lok Sabha elections were taking place and we were sitting for the alliance talks, the alliance was almost finalized. One night, Uddhav Thackeray told me, 'Devendraji, we want the Chief Minister's position for two-and-a-half years. I have informed your seniors about it. The final decision will be made today,' he said. It was 1 AM. I told him that I cannot make that decision. My party takes decisions through the Parliamentary Board. Our president is Amitbhai. I will discuss it with him. I told Amitbhai that we have agreed on the seats and other matters, but Uddhav Thackeray wants the CM position for two-and-a-half years. Amitbhai said, 'We do not accept this. If that’s the case, the alliance won’t happen.'"

Fadnavis further added, "We are the largest party and will remain so. Therefore, our Chief Minister will be for five years. Last time, we didn’t give you the Deputy CM position, but we could give you that. But Uddhav Thackeray said, 'That will not happen.' So, he went his way, and I went mine, and our alliance broke. After almost four days, Uddhav Thackeray sent a message that he wanted to discuss again. He told me that he had dropped the two-and-a-half-year CM demand and wanted an additional Lok Sabha seat. If we gave that, he would drop the two-and-a-half-year term. We sat again, and then he said that they wanted the Palghar seat. I wasn’t ready for that either, as it’s our traditional seat, and we’ve won it consecutively. But after discussions with Amitbhai, the decision was made to give the seat."

Speaking about the closed-room discussion, Fadnavis said, "Balasaheb has a large room. In that room, I, Aditya, and Vaahini (Rashmi Thackeray) were sitting. Uddhav Thackeray said, ‘In the press conference, you say that you will be included in the government.’ I decided what I would say. After that, he called Vaahini. I then recalled everything I was going to say. Then they said everything was fine. Our press conference was held, and I shared what was decided. If there had been any closed-room discussion, they would have told me, but nothing like that happened. Later, the Prime Minister, Amit Shah, and Nadda repeatedly mentioned in their speeches that they were fighting under Devendra's leadership, and Devendra would be the Chief Minister. When these announcements were made, Uddhav Thackeray was also clapping. Regarding the word about the Chief Minister's term, he was somehow under the illusion that it was settled."