“Shinde is a loyal party worker who has participated in agitations with us several times. He is Bala Sahab’s soldier,” said the Sena’s Sanjay Raut.
Mumbai: As a crisis loomed over Maharashtra today, the Shiv Sena stated that the events were nothing more than a blip that will be handled before the end of the day.
But the problem, like the fact that the Sena has emerged as the weakest link – at least on the surface – cannot be wished away. Eknath Shinde, a senior Sena minister, has left for Surat, accompanied by 21 MLAs. The fact that they are hiding in a BJP-run state is a major giveaway of Mr Shinde’s plan.
“Attempts to topple the state government using Eknath Shinde will not succeed. Shinde is a loyal party worker who has participated in agitations with us several times. He is Bala Sahab’s soldier,” said the Sena’s Sanjay Raut. He further claimed that communication has been established with Mr Shinde.
Uddhav Thackeray’s government is made up of three parties: his own, Sharad Pawar’s, and the Congress. Last night, it was revealed that cross-voting by members of the Sena and the Congress helped the BJP win five of the ten seats up for grabs in the legislative council (the Upper House) elections. The cross-voting was a repeat of a similar breach just a few days previously, which allowed the BJP to achieve a Rajya Sabha result that exceeded its own numbers.
Sharad Pawar referred to Devendra Fadnavis as a “wonder maker” at the time. The compliment for the BJP politician sparked speculation that Mr Pawar, the Nationalist Congress Party’s (NCP) chairman, was not fully committed to supporting “remain” for Maharashtra’s government. His reputation as a cross-party negotiator who can switch teams as needed is a consistent aspect in assessing the Maharashtra government’s stability. So is the central government’s action in arresting a former minister and a current minister on allegations of money laundering, a technique that critics claim is the central government’s signature.
Mr. Shinde left late last night for Gujarat. Mr Thackeray replaced BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis as Chief Minister, and he is in Delhi to meet with Home Minister Amit Shah. After the cross-voting fiasco, the Congress has summoned its MLAs to Delhi.
This isn’t the regular upkeep required of a government whose members are frequently pulling in opposite ways.
The crisis has accelerated and become more concentrated—clear indicators that it is, in fact, quite genuine.
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