Maharashtra’s Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government is in a major political crisis after two consecutive defeats by the ruling coalition’s candidates in the Rajya Sabha and Legislative Council elections and a rebellion by senior Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shinde.
Back to back political developments since the MLC election results have pushed the Uddhav Thackeray government to the brink and gave the BJP an edge in Maharashtra with headlines on former Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis.
‘Main Punha Yen’ (I will come back), was Fadnavis’ slogan when he sought a new mandate in the 2019 assembly elections.
In case you are wondering what has just happened in Maharashtra, here is what you need to know about the political crisis:
,how did it start: It all began a day after Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shinde left with 25 MLAs after the ruling Maha Vikas Aghadi lost one of the six seats it contested in the Legislative Council elections.
,Shinde in Surat: After questionable cross-voting in favor of the opposition BJP in the MLC elections, pushing the Thackeray-led MVA government over the line, rebel Sena leaders led by Eknath Shinde landed in Gujarat’s Surat on Monday night, citing several possibilities including a split. Doors opened. in Shiv Sena.
,Suspicious cross voting: Maharashtra ministers, accompanied by legislators, arrived at the hotel late on Monday, hours after the Legislative Council elections in which the BJP won a fifth seat despite not having enough numbers in the assembly, possibly due to suspected cross-voting from the ruling bloc. Apart from the support of independent legislators and smaller parties.
,flurry of storms; Uddhav tried to reduce the tension: Shiv Sena strongman Eknath Shinde’s rebellion triggered a flurry of tense alliances of the ruling Shiv Sena-NCP-Congress alliance to defuse the situation. Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray tried to defuse the tension by sending his confidant Milind Narvekar and Shinde’s aide Ravindra Phatak to meet Shinde and other MLAs in Surat.
What Pawar said: As tensions rose in the day on Tuesday, veteran politician and Nationalist Congress chief Sharad Pawar – part of Maharashtra’s ruling coalition – said the crisis is an “internal matter of the Shiv Sena”. Amid speculations over his role and whether he may have played a role in the crisis, Pawar also said that he is fully committed to a three-party government.
Shiv Sena removes Shinde from the post of Legislature Party leader Following this, the Shiv Sena on Tuesday sacked Eknath Shinde as the leader of the legislature party and appointed Ajay Chaudhary, the party MLA from Sewri, in his place. Around the same time that this happened, Eknath Shinde tweeted that he would never cheat for power. “Balasaheb has taught us Hindutva. We have never cheated for power regarding Balasaheb’s thoughts and teachings of Dharamveer Anand Dighe Sahab and never will,” he said in the tweet.
About an hour after his tweet, he removed Shiv Sena from his Twitter bio.
Shinde says not to return to Shiv Sena: Eknath Shinde said later in the day that he would not return to the party as he was “with Hindutva”. I am with Hindutva and Shiv Sena has left Hindutva. I will not return to Shiv Sena,” he told party MLA Milind Narvekar, who was sent by Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray to the Surat hotel where Shinde was camping with 25 other MLAs since Monday night.
-BJP MLAs met Shinde in Surat: Amidst all this, Maharashtra BJP president Chandrakant Patil said that some BJP MLAs will meet Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shinde in a Surat hotel in his “personal capacity” even as he distanced his party from the current political turmoil. Patil also said that if the BJP gets any proposal from Eknath Shinde to form the government, they will definitely consider it. He admitted that Sanjay Kute, the BJP MLA from Maharashtra, had met Shinde.
Overnight operation continues, Shinde flight to Guwahati: The high-voltage political crisis in Maharashtra saw developments throughout the day on Tuesday, while the action did not stop even into the night. Eknath Shinde and other MLAs left their hotel in Surat early on Wednesday for Guwahati in Assam.
-I have 40 MLAs, says Shinde: Eknath Shinde on landing at Guwahati airport said that 40 MLAs are with him. Shinde spoke to reporters for the first time after his decision to revolt against his own party.
Shinde, who is said to have decided to go to Assam after talks with BJP leaders, said, “Here 40 MLAs are with me. Additional 10 MLAs will join me soon. I don’t want to criticize anyone. We are keen to continue the Shiv Sena founded by late Balasaheb Thackeray.
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