New Delhi, Jun 8 (IANS): Maharashtra Chief Minister and Shiv Sena supremo Eknath Shinde said on Friday that the opposition failed to prevent Prime Minister Narendra Modi from retaining power and assuming office for a record third term despite spreading rumours and peddling false narratives relentlessly.
In an interaction with IANS, the Maharashtra Chief Minister described June 7 as an important, happy and historical day for the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) as all parties of the BJP-led coalition extended support to PM Modi on being named as the leader of the NDA Parliamentary party, clearing the decks for his return as the Prime Minister for the third consecutive term -- only the second PM in the country's history to achieve the feat after its first premier Jawaharlal Nehru.
"Our Shiv Sena, which follows the ideology of late Balasaheb Thackeray, also extended support to PM Modi, and he will become the Prime Minister for a record third term, which is going to be a historic moment... It's a matter of happiness for every one of us," Shinde told IANS.
"On one hand, PM Modi has worked in the last 10 years for the development of the country. He went among the people with an agenda of development while the Opposition spread rumours such as changing the Constitution besides peddling false narratives.... Despite that, the people of the country rejected the Opposition and supported PM Modi by giving him majority (vote share)," the Maharashtra CM said.
On MahaYuti's below-par performance in Maharashtra, Eknath Shinde said: "Rumours and false narratives have been spread among the people on a large scale. Vote bank politics has been done. Confusions were deliberately created. There were talks of changing the Constitution and decreasing the reservation quota. But those who indulged in vote-bank politics will be exposed before the people soon. The late Bal Thackeray never liked such vote-bank politics."
Analysing the performance of the Shiv Sena faction led by him, Shinde said: "Our strike rate in this election has improved... We got 2 lakh more votes in Mumbai than our rival faction... We have 14 per cent of the total 19 per cent vote share for the Shiv Sena,.. We contested 15 seats and won seven... The UBT camp contested 22 and won nine, which proves that our strike rate is better and the people are with us."
On why the opposition failed to stop PM Modi from storming back to power, Shinde told IANS: "They (opposition) had only one narrative - 'Modi Hatao' - and nothing else. They did not have any agenda. But PM Modi had the agenda of development, the development of the country.
"Even as the opposition kept on spreading lies and rumours, they could not stop PM Modi from assuming office for a third term. That happened due to the support the Prime Minister received from the people on the basis of his work and services rendered to the people in the last 10 years."