Picture : Twitter/ ANI
The Maharashtra political thriller is not over yet . In- fact the stage is set for more drama and intrigue ahead. This apprehension to this effect comes from the recent Supreme Court ruling . The top court has issued notice to Maharashtra Assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar on a plea by the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena accusing him of choosing to “deliberately delay” the decision on petitions seeking the disqualification of Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and other MLAs who went with him last year.
The Maharashtra political turmoil has in-fact become a butt of jokes all around . As Former Chief Election Commissioner of India Dr. S.Y. Quraishi shared a tweet that sadly sums up the situation in the maximum city
Hilarious! pic.twitter.com/qV8FsW5CHw
— Dr. S.Y. Quraishi (@DrSYQuraishi) July 6, 2023
If SC diktat followed then position of Chief Minister Eknath Shinde becomes untenable and so does the fate of his faction who broke away from Shiv Sena under Uddhav Thackeray . UBT leader and Rajya Sabha MP Priyanka Chaturvedi while reacting to SC ruling tweeted, Time up for the traitor gang!
The entry of Ajit Pawar and his NCP rebels as part of Eknath Shinde government has further complicated the matters. Ajit Pawar returns not only as Deputy Chief Minister but also as finance minister . Sena leaders while in MVA had complained of Ajit not giving them funds. Now the Shinde Sena has welcomed him with open arms . How long this bonhomie last? Only time will tell .
Senior UBT leader Sanjay Raut hit out at Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis for backing alliance with the NCP. Fadnavis termed the BJP’s alliance with the Ajit Pawar-led NCP as diplomatic. Reacting to it Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut asked why the undivided Shiv Sena’s alliance with the NCP and the Congress was then considered dishonest.
“Both Eknath Shinde and Devendra Fadnavis yesterday spoke about diplomacy. They said their alliance with the NCP is diplomacy. Then what was our alliance with NCP and Congress? What was MVA? If you do it then it is diplomacy. If we do it, is it dishonesty?” Raut said, adding that his party had similarly resorted to “diplomacy”, to keep the BJP out of power. “You (BJP) are dishonest. To keep you out of power, we allied with the NCP and the Congress in 2019. That was our diplomacy,” he said.
After the NCP rebels joined the Eknath Shinde government , NCP chief Sharad Pawar took a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi , saying, saying that he wanted to “thank the Prime Minister” for taking in the NCP MLAs just days after accusing the party of large-scale corruption. “He has freed all of them from the allegations,” he said. Pawar’s statement was the counter the often made rhetoric by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to attack the opposition and corruption the slogan is – “ना खाऊंगा, ना खाने दूंगा”.
Pawar’s remark came after Prime Minister Narendra Modi at a rally in Bhopal lashed out at the NCP . Addressing booth workers of the Bharatiya Janata Party in Bhopal last month, Modi had said there were allegations of scams of nearly Rs 70,000 crore against NCP, including the Maharashtra Cooperative Bank scam, irrigation scam and illegal mining scam.
Pawar further stated, “The Prime Minister made a statement. That statement was against the NCP and the Congress. At that time, he mentioned two things. He said NCP was involved in corruption. While stating this, he also made mention of the state cooperative bank. He also made reference to the complaint regarding irrigation… I am happy that he has given oath to some members of the NCP. It means there was no truth in the allegations that he made. He has freed all of them from the allegations that he made. And for this, I want to thank the Prime Minister.” he said.
Meanwhile former Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray also took on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his so- called corruption battle . Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray targeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi over his comments on a “Rs 70,000 crore scam” by NCP, a day after a Pune trust selected the PM for Tilak National award and invited Sharad Pawar for the August 1 function as chief guest.
Prominent among the invitees is Nationalist Congress Party leader Ajit Pawar, who joined the Shiv Sena-BJP government in Maharashtra as deputy chief minister on July 2 while eight MLAs of his camp were sworn in as ministers. “What happened to the Rs 70,000 crore scam? Who all will be there on the stage? That (the NCP) party is with you,” Thackeray reportedly said .
The battle lines are now clearly drawn in Maharashtra with Eknath Shinde Shiv Sena Faction, BJP, and Ajit Pawar NCP faction. The other side has the Congress , Sharad Pawar faction and the UBT faction of Uddhav Thackeray . Whom the people pick in the Lok Sabha polls 2024 and the assembly polls slated in October 2024 later on will be tough to guess.
Will Ajit Pawar’s rebellion against uncle Sharad Pawar pay-off? Or it will end up like Raj Thackeray’s rebellion in Shiv Sena . Raj if one recalls had formed his political party MNS ( Maharashtra Navnirman Sena ) in 2006 by going against his uncle Balasaheb Thackeray. He has not found any success as yet . His party has only one seat in the Maharashtra assembly.
Moreover, Four-time Chief Minister Sharad Pawar is a wily politician and it is unlikely that he will go down without a fight. Ajit Will have to prove his mettle in the forthcoming polls and that is not too far away. NCP is Sharad Pawar and Sharad Pawar is NCP . This slogan is etched in Maharashtra people’s minds . Will Ajit manage to overturn this ? He has taken huge gamble .it could well make or end his innings as a politician . So his real test lies ahead.
While BJP and Eknath Shinde maybe ecstatic with triple engine government . The BJP inside would be slight uneasy as it will not easy for them to convince no matter what Ajit Pawar’s joining the Maharashtra government that too with corruption charges . The opposition’s charge of BJP washing machine will only get louder and this will not be easy to defend so too is the slogan – “ना खाऊंगा, ना खाने दूंगा” .
