Friends are not crutches, clarifies Fadnavis after Shah's statement

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Monday (October 27, 2025) said that friends are not crutches.

He was responding to a reporter’s question on Union Minister Amit Shah’s statement at a party event in Mumbai, that the Bharatiya Janata Party in the State does not run on crutches but on its own strength.

“Those who question this remark do not understand the meaning of `crutches’. Friends are not crutches,” said Mr. Fadnavis who leads a three-party alliance government with Eknath Shinde’s Shiv Sena and the Ajit Pawar-led NCP.

The Chief Minister, meanwhile, also slammed the Opposition for “politicising” the suicide of a woman doctor at Phaltan in Satara district.

“Those who politicise a sensitive issue are unfortunate people. They want to stay in the limelight. I have already said, no one will be spared in the case,” he said.

He also criticised the Opposition for raising doubts over the electoral rolls. “I have already said that it is cover firing ahead of an impending defeat (in coming elections). We too have spoken out against duplicate names in voter lists. The Opposition failed to give proof of double voting,” Mr. Fadnavis said.

Opposition parties never objected to electoral rolls earlier, he added.

On a controversy over the sale of a prime piece of land belonging to a Jain trust in Pune, Mr. Fadnavis said the issue was between the private builder and the Jain community, and the government has taken a decision as per the community’s wishes.

“Pune MP and Union Minister Murlidhar Mohol’s name has been unnecessarily dragged into the case with an eye on local elections,” he said.

The property in the upmarket Model Colony area, measuring around 3.5 acres, houses a Jain boarding facility. After it was acquired by Pune-based Gokhale Constructions from the trust, students, alumni, religious leaders and community members objected to the deal.