What troubles the Eknath Shinde faction at present, other than the delay in cabinet expansion, is the perception that Delhi is calling the shots in Maharashtra.
However, this fear is not entirely unfounded.
In the 34 days of the new government, Shinde has made six trips to the national capital. Though these visits were primarily aimed at discussing a host of issues, most importantly to hammer out a power-sharing formula, with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leadership, this is sending a wrong message to the people of Maharashtra, rebel Shiv Sena legislators said.
“Shinde visited Delhi for various issues. But it appears that Delhi is making the decisions concerning the state government and it could be damaging as it gets directly linked with the Maharashtra pride. We will have to be cautious about this in future,” an MLA, who did not wish to be named, said.
Shinde, who engineered a rebellion after walking away with 40 of the 55 Sena MLAs, eventually forced Uddhav Thackeray to resign as chief minister on June 29. Next day, Shinde took the oath of office with BJP’s Devendra Fadnavis as deputy CM.
Leaders of Sena as well as Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) have slammed the government for the uncertainty over allocation of berths, while taunting Shinde over his ‘new bosses in Delhi’.
Congress chief spokesperson Atul Londhe said it is Delhi that has stopped expansion of the state cabinet. “Congress used to get criticised for going to Delhi once in six months but it has never happened in the past that a chief minister visits the national capital six times within a month.”
Political analysts said Shinde appears to be dependent on Delhi.
“People don’t like the thought that Delhi is ruling the state. This is the reason Sena has been claiming that the Maharashtra pride is under attack, the BJP wants to divide Mumbai etc. This perception is getting a push after the fall of MVA [Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi],” Hemant Desai, a political analyst, said.
During the Congress-NCP government, the Maharashtra BJP leaders used to target Congress for taking instructions from the party high command in Delhi, Desai said. “If this sentiment remains for a long time then Sena may use this as its agenda to score big in the upcoming elections, especially the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation polls.”
Shinde is aware of the situation, party insiders said. This is the reason why he chose to keep the details of his last and sixth visit to Delhi a secret. He met union home minister Amit Shah only at Delhi airport on Saturday late evening and returned to Aurangabad to attend meetings and party gatherings scheduled for Sunday, they said.
Analyst Abhay Deshpande, however, said that the delay in cabinet expansion and the CM’s visits to Delhi are not the only reason for creating such a perception. “What is more damaging are the statements made by BJP’s national president J P Nadda, Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari, and action against opposition leaders in Maharashtra by central probe agencies. This gives an impression of vindictive politics, which is touching the issue of Maharashtra pride. I can’t comment on its impact but this will aggravate if corrective measures are not taken.”
This is definitely not an ideal start for the Shinde-Fadnavis government, he added.
Nadda had in Patna said that Sena was a family-run party and was on the verge of getting finished. On Friday, Koshyari had said that there would be “no money left” in Mumbai if people from Gujarat and Rajasthan were removed from the city. However, on Monday, he apologised for his remarks.
