Mumbai, February 23 Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Monday said that Ajit Pawar, who died in a plane crash last month, was "the best chief minister the state never had".
Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde described the late NCP leader as an "elder brother" and said that he, Fadnavis, and Pawar were like an "equilateral triangle" and were very close.
On January 28, Deputy CM Pawar and four others died in a plane crash in Pune's Baramati town.
In a moving tribute to Pawar in the assembly on the first day of the legislature's budget session, Fadnavis said that the state had lost a towering leader and administrator.
Pawar's sudden demise has created a political vacuum that will never be filled, the CM said, praising the NCP leader, whose party is a constituent of the ruling Mahayuti.
"Ajitdada (as Pawar was fondly called) and I share the same birthdate, but he was 11 years older than me. He was my 'dada' in the real sense," Fadnavis noted.
He said that Ajit Pawar became deputy chief minister six times and had the capacity to lead the state.
"Ajitdada was the best CM Maharashtra never had," the senior BJP leader stated.
There were political considerations in various decisions. Destiny would have fulfilled his wish sometime. "Ajitdada was always punctual, but this time his timing went wrong," Fadnavis said, referring to the plane crash last month.
He said that Pawar was never a politically correct person. He always implemented what he said and was a straightforward person, Fadnavis noted.
"Ajitdada was a leader who honoured the word he gave. In 2019, we decided to form a government together. But that didn't happen because his party's senior leadership decided to step back. Ajitdada stood by his word and we took the oath together.
"But he discussed with me and then went back to his original party after the court order went against us," Fadnavis recalled, referring to the two-day government formed by Fadnavis in alliance with Pawar before the Maha Vikas Aghadi came to power.
Fadnavis also said that Ajit Pawar was the best finance minister any CM could ask for. This year, he would have presented his 12th budget and next year, he would have broken Sheshrao Wankhede's record of presenting 13 budgets, he noted.
Pawar pushed through the Ladki Bahin scheme, which provides financial assistance to women, overruling the finance department's reservations about its impact on the state exchequer, the CM said.
Fadnavis said he always spoke of NCP as a strategic partner, but Ajit Pawar was a close friend.
On January 27, Pawar attended the cabinet and infrastructure committee meetings and discussed why there was no gross value addition in capital expenditure. "No one would have imagined that it would be our last meeting," Fadnavis rued.
In the council, Deputy CM Shinde said Maharashtra lost a "staunch, punctual leader and a great friend", and the House lost a strict and disciplined member.
"Fadnavis, Pawar and I were like an equilateral triangle; we were all close to each other," Shinde said, underlining the coordination within the state's leadership.
He likened Pawar to a "jackfruit- thorny (tough) from outside but soft and sweet inside".
Moving the resolution in the House to pay tributes to departed leaders, Shinde said after becoming chief minister (in 2022), he worked closely with Pawar.
"I also worked with him during the MVA tenure and observed his studious nature and command over administration," he said.
Pawar could quickly grasp the importance or shortcomings of a scheme and was particularly strict about cleanliness and discipline in governance, he noted.
Shinde also said that when the Ladki Bahin scheme was conceptualised during his tenure as CM, it was Pawar who framed it properly and managed the state's finances so that the state did not face much strain.
Speaking in the Upper House, Shiv Sena (UBT) president Uddhav Thackeray described Pawar as a "very close friend".
Thackeray said when he became the CM in 2019, he was initially suspicious of Pawar, especially after the latter gave them a "shock" by taking oath with Fadnavis.
"My entire politics was earlier against Pawar's politics, but we came together. I realised, and till now believe, that Pawar became a very close friend to me," he said.
Recalling the COVID-19 pandemic period, Thackeray said it was the then Deputy CM Pawar who ensured that major works continued uninterrupted.
"Pawar was punctual, trustworthy and efficient," he added.
Referring to Pawar's recent remarks that he had faced allegations of Rs 70,000 crore corruption from those who were now sharing power with him, Thackeray said there should be a limit to defaming a person for political reasons.
"How much and how long are we going to defame a person for political reasons? There should be some limit to it. We should have some self-regulation. How long are we going to blame a person without verifying the facts?" he asked.
Thackeray further noted that when Pawar was deputy chief minister in the MVA government, those who were in the Opposition later welcomed him when they came to power.
"Any ordinary person would have gone into depression by facing such allegations, but Pawar sailed through it because of his efficient and pro-people work," he said.