The BJP on Wednesday appeared to be smacking its lips at the growing prospect of “revenge” on the Shiv Sena for splitting with it and forming the government in Maharashtra two years ago, one of the most embarrassing moments for the BJP in an era that has otherwise been the most politically and ideologically fruitful for it.
The BJP leadership, then just six months into a huge general election victory in 2019, had attempted a nocturnal coup of sorts to wrest the politically key state but had ended up with egg on its face.
On Wednesday, as rebel Eknath Shinde and a large number of other Shiv Sena MLAs looked firmly in its grip, pushing the Uddhav Thackeray government to the brink, the BJP silently geared up for revenge.
“Uddhav’s days are numbered. He is paying for what he did to us,” a BJP leader said, recalling how the BJP, despite deploying all its might, had to bite the dust.
In November 2019, the BJP’s Devendra Fadnavis had to step down just three days after he took oath as Maharashtra chief minister.
NCP chief Sharad Pawar, along with MP Supriya Sule and Maharashtra minister Jayant Patil, leaves after meeting Congress leader Kamal Nath in Mumbai on Wednesday PTI Picture
The political drama had begun after the October 2019 Assembly polls in which the BJP-Shiv Sena alliance had secured majority by winning 161 (the BJP 105 and the Sena 56) of the 288 seats.
However, the Sena claimed the chief minister’s post and the BJP refused. This led the Sena to ditch the BJP and join forces with the Opposition NCP and Congress. Together, the three parties formed the Maha Vikas Aghadi government.
Not ready to let Maharashtra slip out of its hands, the BJP tried to split the NCP, while the state was put under President’s rule. Ajit Pawar, nephew of NCP chief Sharad Pawar, was lured with the deputy chief minister’s post.
The BJP leadership and the central government, in a night of hectic activities on November 23, 2019, quietly revoked President’s rule, taking recourse to a norm reserved for emergencies. Presidential assent was taken when most Indians were sleeping and a gazette notification issued at 5.47am.
After this, Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar were administered oaths of office at the Raj Bhavan at 7.50am. The news of a BJP government taking oath in Maharashtra was broken only after the swearing in was over at 8.10am.
The Opposition knocked on the Supreme Court’s door while Sharad Pawar’s efforts averted a split in the NCP. Nephew Ajit Pawar resigned and Fadnavis had to step down as chief minister on November 26 without taking a test of majority on the floor of the Assembly as ordered by the Supreme Court, knowing he didn’t have the numbers.
Security personnel keep vigil outside a hotel in Guwahati on Wednesday where the dissident MLAs are staying PTI Picture
This episode had been seen as the biggest loss of face for Prime Minister Narendra Modi and then BJP chief Amit Shah, more than their man in Maharashtra, Fadnavis.
Uddhav took oath as chief minister on November 28.
The BJP appeared to have been working towards avenging the Sena “betrayal”. Central agencies such as the Enforcement Directorate, CBI and the income tax department have often been accused of targeting Maharashtra ministers, with the ruling alliance crying political vendetta.
On Wednesday, close to 35 of the Shiv Sena’s 55 MLAs and some Independents were cloistered in a hotel in BJP-ruled Assam, the party leadership in Delhi felt their moment may have finally arrived.
Officially, the BJP leadership chose silence but privately, party leaders rejoiced and appeared certain of returning to power in Maharashtra.
