On 2nd December, in a surprising rather shocking move, former Union minister and BJP leader Anant Kumar Hegde claimed that Devendra Fadnavis was hurriedly sworn-in as the Maharashtra CM on November 23 despite the party lacking majority as part of a “drama to transfer” bullet-train project funds worth Rs 40,000 to the central government.

Karnataka MP made these statements while speaking at an election campaign meeting in Sirsi Taluk's Bankanaala on November 29.

According to ANI news agency, "Fadnavis became CM&in 15hrs he moved Rs40,000 Cr back to Centre."

These claims made by Hegde seemed to have emerged from a viral WhatsApp forward message which says that Fadnavis had saved the bullet train project by transferring the funds which would’ve otherwise be misused by the other parties.

Claim refuted by Devendra Fadnavis

As soon as, statements of Anant Hegde surfaced all over the media, Former Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis rubbished all the claims. These rumors started were firstly shared on WhatsApp and became public when Hegde spoke about it.

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While strongly refuting Hegde's claims, Fadnavis clarified that the role of the Maharashtra government in the bullet train project was only of land acquisition, and does not include the transfer of funds. He further added that those familiar with inter-governmental accounting systems know that the transfer of funds does not work the way it has been claimed. You can watch the complete down below.

The bullet train project connecting Mumbai and Ahmadabad is one of the most ambitious projects of the former Maharashtra government and is a matter of prestige for the central government and for the government of Gujarat. Due to the involvement of Japanese investors and access to low-cost funds, it is estimated to cost ? 1.08 lakh crores. However, the project has faced several hurdles with farmers opposing the land acquisition process initiated by the state government.