Resort to politics – A popular euphemism for examples of political parties taking their legislators to hotels in an attempt to avoid poaching – Maharashtra after Bharatiya Janata Party pulled a stunner with Devendra Fadnavis as chief minister on Saturday morning Preparation to begin in.
Yesterday evening, Shiv Sena, Nationalist Congress Party and Congress appeared ready to come together and form government in Maharashtra.
However, Saturday morning had a surprise in store with NCP’s Ajit Pawar, who is the nephew of party chief Sharad Pawar, apparently breaking ranks and lending support to Devendra Fadnavis. Ajit Pawar took oath along with Fadnavis as the deputy chief minister.
His uncle Sharad Pawar says he had no idea about his nephew’s move, while Supriya Sule, Sharad’s daughter, and Ajit’s cousin, announced a “split” within the NCP and the Pawar family.
As things stand, Devendra Fadnavis is the Chief Minister of Maharashtra and Ajit Pawar his deputy. Fadnavis will now have to prove his majority on the floor of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly. Shiv Sena, NCP, and Congress are confident that Fadnavis will lose the floor test.
And to that end, the parties have started a sequence of their MLAs from Maharashtra. The Congress, India Today TV has learned, plans to take its MLAs out of the state. While the party was earlier considering transferring MLAs to Madhya Pradesh, it has now been decided to shift them to Jaipur in Rajasthan. Congress is ruled by both states.
Sources in the NCP told India Today TV that it too plans to take its MLAs to a ‘safe’ place. However, it remains to be seen how many MLAs are with Sharad Pawar and how many are with Ajit.
Meanwhile, the Shiv Sena MLA is currently at a hotel in Mumbai, where he is waiting for his party chief Uddhav Thackeray, who came to address him till yesterday evening after becoming the Chief Minister of Maharashtra.
Will Devendra Fadnavis prove that he has the support of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly?
We’ll find out soon.
