After maintaining that it has got no role in “destabilizing” the coalition Government in Maharashtra, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has made a sudden entry on the political stage of the state which is these days witnesses a crisis as the party is now aiming to form the Government along with the rebel MLAs of Shiv Sena. The air has been cleared after BJP’s leadership met the Governor, stating that the Maha Vikas Aghadi does not have the numbers to remain in the Government, seeking an urgent floor test.
By jumping into the arena at this juncture, after an earlier meeting with Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP President, J.P. Nadda, BJP cannot now claim that it was not waiting to make the alliance weak, paved a way for the rebel MLAs led by Eknath Shinde to make an exit from the Shiv Sena and leave Uddhav Thackery in the middle of nowhere.
The scene is crystal clear now, but still, if the BJP would try to appear to not have been at the back of the crisis in the state, the numbers would deflate their claims because, minus Shiv Sena, Congress, and NCP, the rebels’ route was only leading to BJP, now enchasing it all very ‘politically’.
Over the last few days, there have been swift developments as before Fadnavis met the Governor, Shinde had already announced that he along with the rebel MLAs would arrive in Mumbai on Thursday. It could not be a coincidence that the Governor, after Fadnavis sought a floor test, directed for the same to be held on Thursday—the day when those camping in Guwahati would reach Mumbai. Everything is now making sense; giving it all a context with one event unfolding right after another.
Whatever has been happening in Maharashtra concerning the political upheaval, the one who has been left deeply hurt is Uddhav himself who said that those who were his people betrayed him while the BJP rolled its sleeves up to fight it out..
The crux of the story is that those who left the Uddhav-led Shiv Sena had their motives and interests which they were not seeing getting fulfilled under Uddhav, the same was well noted by the BJP leadership in the state, which then schemed in a way that the Maha Vikas Aghadi lost its number needed to be in the Government. On the other side, BJP had over 100 seats, and needed only those who rebelled—for the rest; they had New Delhi at the back and Fadnavis right there in Maharashtra.
What now saw the climax of the political crisis in the state, after Uddhav lost his case in the Supreme Court late Wednesday, is his resignation from the post of Maharashtra Chief Minister. That is what the BJP wanted and got it all done in the end. However, what follows next would be interesting to see.
