Suspense over Maha development

Bhubaneswar/Mumbai, June 23 (Ajoy Kumar Misra):  A cloud of suspense hover over the political horizon of Maharashtra with Shiv Sena Chief and Chief Minister Uddhav Thackrey struggling to keep his flock together. The rebel Shiv Sena MLAs, led by Eknath Shinde, continue to be adamant in their stand and Uddhav trying to play an emotional card. The rebel MLAs whose number has now swelled to about 48, are holed up in a hotel in Guwahati and incommunicado to party leadership. It also near impossible for Thackray to meet the demand of the rebels—1) sever alliance with Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and Congress, 2) form alliance with BJP to form government in the State and the last but not the least to decide on Devendra Fadnavis as Chief Minister.

As time passes, the number of Shiv Sena’s Uddhav loyal MLAs is decreasing. According to unconfirmed reports more MLAs are in touch with Shinde and his support is growing.

The biggest grudge the rebels nurture against Uddhav is that he has surrendered the party before the whims of NCP leader Sharad Pawar and thereby diminished the future prospects of the Shiv Sena for future election.

The MVA was formed at the instance of Pawar after the Shiv Sena broke alliance with the BJP post 2029 Assembly elections. When the three parties of the Maha Vikash Aghadi came together, there were many leaders who had fought against the leaders of the other party and won. Hence it was the ideological difference that has come to play and many Shiv Sena leaders feel that they have been pushed to awkward situations and are unlikely to hold on to their bases in their constitutencies if an election is conducted today. The Shiv Sena’s Hindutwa plank has been compromised, they feel.

The rebels need 37 MLAs to dodge the Anti-defection Law and avoid a situation for any fresh polls. According to latest reports the rebels have now neared the halfway mark and may create a situation for Thackray to quit the chair.

The BJP, behind the scene, is playing safe. What it is trying to play to the gallery is that it is the internal matter of the Shiv Sena and the party is no way concerned. But the most interesting thing is that the rebels first chose Gujarat and later shifted to Assam to hide themselves. As is known well both these states are BJP ruled states.

However, it has baffled everyone, including Chief Minister Thackray as to how the step was taken so swiftly without giving any indication in any manner. These Shiv Sena MLAs first indulged in cross voting during the Rajya Sabha elections and then during the Vidhan Parishad polls. The BJP tried to create ruckus over alleged coercion by the ruling Aghadi alliance for trying to influence its MLAs. But the result surprised everyone as it was the reverse. Was Fadnavis the mastermind of this entire episode.

If reports from Maharashtra is to be believed, no two MLA travelled together to Surat, no one spoke to each other, every MLA asked his security personnel to stay back and every MLA was individually given the Hotel address where to put up after reaching Surat. In short there was utmost secrecy in the execution of the plan and dodge the Intelligence sleuths in the State.