Fadnavis dismisses Hegde’s claim

Mumbai: BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis on Monday dismissed party MP Ananthkumar Hegde’s claim that he was made the chief minister last month – before quitting three days later – only to ‘protect’ Rs 40,000 crore central funds from being ‘misused’.
Fadnavis, however, faced flak from Shiv Sena, which said his purported act was a treachery against Maharashtra, while the Sharad Pawar-led NCP said Prime Minister Narendra Modi will have to resign if there is truth in Hegde’s remarks.
Neither did the Centre ask for any funds nor did the Maharashtra government sent them back, Fadnavis asserted. Former Union minister Hegde, known for making controversial statements, on Saturday sought to give a new twist to last month’s political drama in Maharashtra, claiming it was played out to ensure funds meant for development works were ‘protected’.
Fadnavis dubbed Hegde’s claim as “absolutely wrong”, and said nothing of that sort happened. “It (claim) is absolutely wrong and I refute it completely. A central government company is implementing the bullet train project, where Maharashtra government’s role is restricted to land acquisition. Neither did the Centre ask for any funds nor did Maharashtra government sent them back,” he told reporters in Nagpur.
Fadnavis said the state finance department should conduct necessary enquiry and bring out the truth. The NCP said Modi will have to resign if there is truth in Hegde’s claim. (PTI)