NCP minister says Maharashtra wants to see Marathi person become PM; favours Fadnavis for role

Pune, Maharashtra Agriculture Minister and NCP leader Dattatray Bharne has said the citizens of the state want to see a Marathi person become the country's prime minister, and added that Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis was his choice for the top post.

Speaking to reporters here on Wednesday evening, he said Maharashtra had long aspired to see one of its leaders become the prime minister.

"Everybody knows that Maharashtra has been waiting to see a Marathi man become the prime minister. It is the wish of the people of Maharashtra. In the past, the state's first chief minister Yashwantrao Chavan missed that opportunity. Later, Sharad Pawar saheb, too, could not become the prime minister," he said.


Expressing confidence that a Maharashtrian would occupy the country's highest executive office in the future, Bharne said, "I am sure that in 2029 or 2034, a Maharashtrian will become the head of the country. It is the collective wish of the people of the state and the farmers."

When asked whom he believed could become the prime minister from Maharashtra, he replied, "It is Devendra Fadnavis."

The minister also said he would be happy to see NCP president Sunetra Pawar become Maharashtra's first woman chief minister.

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) headed by Sunetra Pawar share power in Maharashtra as Mahayuti alliance.

Fadnavis took oath as the Maharashtra CM for his third term on December 5, 2024. His first stint was a a full five year term from 2014 to 2019, while the second one in 2019 lasted only three days.

On July 12 this year, Fadnavis completed 2,430 days as the chief minister across three terms, becoming the third longest-serving CM in Maharashtra's history in terms of cumulative tenure, overtaking NCP (SP) president Sharad Pawar.