Nagpur: “The action our government took, our response matters more. I do not believe in promoting tragedy tourism,” said chief minister Devendra Fadnavis. He was responding to a question on whether the twin crises of Parbhani riots and Beed sarpanch murder were not serious enough to merit his visit to the two places in the state.

“Both the incidents are extremely serious. To my government what matters is what action we have taken and how quickly we responded. I was busy with the winter session and so deputy CM Ajit Pawar went to visit Parbhani and Beed to meet families of the victims. As a chief minister I may not be able to attend to every problem when others in the government can handle them, “ said Fadnavis.

He had drawn flak from Shiv Sena (UBT) for not visiting Parbhani where there was a social disturbance after alleged desecration of a replica of Constitution by a mentally unstable man which led to violence and in Beed where criminals murdered an upright sarpanch of Massajog village. Both inciodents happened soon after Fadnavis took over chief minister earlier this month.

In his first full-fledged media interaction in his home turf, Fadnavis said the historic mandate the new Mahayuti government had, brought with it heightened public expectations and aspirations. “But with my constructive politics, I am ready for all challenges. We will fulfill all promises and work for speedy, overall and balanced development of the state,” said Fadnavis.

“In my first term as CM , did well despite apprehensions over my lack of any previous experience even as a minister. Then, in last two and half years as deputy CM and holding crucial portfolios like energy I gained rich experience. The fast paced development and ability to deal with conflicts being deliberately raised by political forces bent on dividing people, have given me confidence to deal with all situations.” said Fadnavis.

On development he said his government was ready with a road map for the next 25 years in the energy sector. Power tariffs would remain stable or even come down, he said. Stress would be on completion of all irrigation projects that have been started. The massive plan of six river-linking projects would transform the economy of Maharashtra,” said Fadnavis. Gadchiroli would emerge as new mining and steel production hub of the country, he added.

The chief minister admitted that grower cyber crimes and frauds loke digital arrest were worrying. “We are coming up with an integrated approach combining cyber and digital platforms to deal with the new age challenge,” he said.

On the Congress agitation and accusation of insult to architect of Constitution by union home minister by Union home minister Amit Shah, Fadnavis said a frustrated and defeated Congress was trying to keep itself afloat in public domain using means like doctoring statements.

“Congress had always suffered from insecurity that Ambedkar with his social contribution may overshadow the Gandhi-Nehru legacy. So they tried to stymie Ambedkar when he was alive and continued to do so even after his demise. Now instead of apologising to people for that, they are looking for fake narratives to wrongly target the BJP and its leaders who have shown respect to Ambedkar by building memorials and bestowing Bharat Ratna on the Dalit icon,” Fadnavis countered.