Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis (R) with Deputy CM Ajit Pawar (L) Photo: Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis (R) with Deputy CM Ajit Pawar (L) Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis (R) with Deputy CM Ajit Pawar (L) Photo: Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis (R) with Deputy CM Ajit Pawar (L)

While explaining their round-the-clock work schedule during a speech in the legislative assembly, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Thursday made a surprising remark about his deputy, Ajit Pawar.

The youngster displayed goalkeeping masterclass in the shoot-out, saving all four of Pakistan’s attempts after the match was drawn 1-1 in regulation time.

“Ajit Pawar will work in the morning since he is an early riser. I am on duty from 12 noon to midnight while throughout the night… you all know who” Fadnavis said referring to another Deputy CM Eknath Shinde, who is known to work till late hours.

However, what drew attention was when Fadnavis told Pawar during the discussion on the motion of thanks to the Governor's address, "You are called the 'permanent deputy CM'... but my wishes are with you. You will be the Chief Minister someday."

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On December 5, Devendra Fadnavis, Ajit Pawar, and Eknath Shinde took oath as Maharashtra's chief minister and two deputy chief ministers respectively.

Ajit Pawar who became the Deputy Chief Minister for the sixth time, joined the BJP-led Mahayuti government in 2023 as the chief of NCP (Ajit Pawar faction) following a major rift in the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) that was originally founded by his uncle Sharad Pawar.

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After a severe drubbing in the Lok Sabha polls that saw NCP bagging only one seat, Ajit Pawar’s party made an impressive comeback in the recently held assembly elections, emerging victorious in 41 of the 57 constituencies where it was in the fray.

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The Mahayuti alliance of BJPmegapanalo, Shiv Sena and NCP won over 230 of the state's 288 assembly seats, while MVA could manage to grab only 46.