Two-and-a-half years ago, Maharashtra saw an unexpected political realignment with Shiv Sena joining hands with Congress and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) — the two parties that were ideologically on the opposite side of the right of the center party led by Thackerays. Two persons were responsible for it — NCP chief Sharad Pawar and Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray who buried their differences to counter a common enemy, the BJP.
As the three-party Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government was formed Pawar made sure that the same was headed by Uddhav Thackeray. During the two-and-a-half-year long tenure, it was quite evident how Pawar was guiding Thackeray — who had never handled even a gram panchayat before taking over as chief minister — in running the state government. Even during the tough times of Covid epidemic, the duo used to meet at regular intervals to discuss issues and problems of the government.
Things changed dramatically in 10 days, from June 20 to 30, that saw rebellion in Shiv Sena, Thackeray’s sudden resignation and collapse of the MVA government. According to NCP insiders, Pawar was not happy the way Thackeray chose to resign without facing the trust vote. Most top leaders of NCP and Congress were insisting that Thackeray should face the trust vote, use the debate effectively to tell the people how his government was being pulled down and force the rebel MLAs to act against party line which would have made them liable for action under the anti-defection law.
According to Sena insiders, Thackeray was hurt by the split and did not want to go for floor test. There was also apprehension of more MLAs walking out of the party during the trust vote, which actually happened later. Thackeray did not follow the advice of his allies and quit on June 29, paving the way for formation of Shinde-Fadnavis government. For several weeks after that, the camaraderie between the duo was missing. Though Pawar and NCP publicly defended Thackeray, the Maratha strongman apparently stopped advising the latter on various issues. It was also the same time when Shinde and the rebels squarely blamed NCP for the fall of the government and accused Thackeray of letting Sena get dragged behind Pawar’s party.
Things, however, seem to have taken another turn now. If the October 13 event organised by NCP to felicitate senior leader Chhagan Bhujbal on his 75th birthday is any indication, the Thackeray-Pawar camaraderie is back. The duo seemed to be chatting comfortably as they shared the dais. According to a leader who was on the dais, Thackeray got the news about Bombay high court directing BMC to accept Thackeray faction’s Andheri bypoll candidate Rutuja Latke’s resignation while he was sitting on the dais and he immediately showed the message on his cellphone to Pawar. Speaking at the function, Thackeray pointed out that the NCP chief stood by him during the trying times. He also said he is ready to take on the rivals and is happy that people like Bhujbal and Pawar — who don’t back out — are on his side.
“He is capable of creating storms and I am glad that he is on our side,” he remarked further. Pawar too is making it public that he and his party are with Thackeray. Immediately after the Election Commission of India’s (ECI) decision to freeze the name and symbol of Shiv Sena owing to dispute between two factions of the party, Pawar was quick to react, saying Thackeray’s party will bounce back. Thackeray’s popularity among the NCP-Congress supporters seems to be very high these days. At the central Mumbai auditorium where the function was held, Thackeray got maximum applause from the audience which was mostly NCP and Bhujbal supporters.
When Nana Patekar made Shinde-Fadnavis scurry for words
Veteran actor Nana Patekar is known for his acidic tongue. At Lokmat Group’s Maharashtrian of the Year award function Patekar gave a tough time to chief minister Eknath Shinde and deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis as he fielded them a few awkward questions. “Late YB Chavan (first chief minister of the state) had just ₹25,000 in his bank account when he died. Now-a-days even a corporator earns crores within a year or so, after getting elected. All of us know this. Why no is there no action taken against corrupt politicians,” Patekar asked the duo.
He also lamented that the level of political discourse in the state had touched a new low and asked why nothing was being done to correct the same. “If we common citizens break the signal you take action against us. Why is no action taken when you make mistakes,” he asked. He also pointed out how families and villages are divided following the split in Shiv Sena. “You politicians will join hands again but what about families that get divided because of you,” he asked.
Both Shinde and Fadnavis seemed cornered for a while but they eventually retorted. Fadnavis said both politicians and even people need to keep corrupt politicians at bay but the fact is that such people win elections with thumping majority. Shinde insisted that he never uses abusive language though some others have been doing it. Fadnavis also told the audience how Patekar would often call him after watching his speeches in the assembly and advise him not to speak in a pitched tone. “It was because of his advice that I could improve my public speech,” Fadnavis revealed.
Worli on BJP’s radar
Shiv Sena leader Aaditya Thackeray may face a tough time retaining his Worli assembly seat in the next elections for that’s what the BJP is aiming for. The party has been taking up initiatives to connect with the people in the Worli constituency that elected the Thackeray scion in 2019 assembly elections. It organised Dahi-handi celebrations, Ganesh festival and Navratri festival in Worli. The latest is a cultural event to celebrate Diwali at Jamboree Maidan in Worli.
‘Apla Marathmola Deepotsav’ event is being organised by Mumbai BJP between October 19 and 23, which will have artists performing classical music and dance as well as food festival. The BJP has been aggressively reaching out to the people in the constituency. Speculations are rife that its ally, the Shinde faction, is likely to poach a couple of key Thackeray faction leaders from the constituency as well. It will be interesting to see how Aaditya counters this onslaught.
Shinde’s headache
Keeping his flock happy is turning out to be a tedious task for chief minister Eknath Shinde. The group of 39 Shiv Sena legislators who rebelled against Uddhav Thackeray under his leadership now expect the government led by him to do what they want. This includes everything that they want to be done in their constituencies, including generous funding for their projects. Close aides of Shinde often point out how a significant chunk of his time goes in attending his supporter MLAs who walk in with “to do” lists. On several occasions, the “requests” by MLAs get negative response from the administration which cites rules or provisions in the law; and it evokes angry reactions from the Shinde loyalists.
An incident that took place a week ago was an indication of how things are as Shinde himself had to admonish one of his legislators who used abusive language as he argued with an official from the CM’s office. Worse, the legislator happened to be a cabinet minister. “That was one case where the CM had to intervene but staff in the CMO has to face them almost on daily basis,” said a top CMO official.
