Omkar Dattatray
At last the political crises in Maharashtra came to an end when Uddhav Thackeray put forward his papers and resigned from the Chief Ministership under pressure as the rite petition filed by MVA Government in Supreme Court praying for stay to the floor test as ordered by the governor. But the Supreme Court gave a go ahead to floor test and this development forced Uddhav to resign as he could not face the assembly as he does not have the numbers and so he opted to resign from the Chief Minister’s post. Thus he did not prove his majority in the assembly for which governor has convened a special session of the assembly. Thus he made room for the appointment of a new Chief Minister though reluctantly. But in a dramatic turn of events and most unexpectedly Eaknath Shinde instead of Devender Fadnavis former Chief Minister and the president of the state BJP was anointed the Chief Minister of the state surprising political parties, political Pandits and one and all as it was the turn of Fudnavis to head the coalition government of BJP and Shiv Sena, but it was not so and thus Shinde was appointed Chief Minister of the state though the numbers were all in favor of the BJP. However under the directions and orders of the BJP high command Fudnavis agreed to the suggestion of the top brass of the BJP and agreed to allow the younger brother rebel Shiv Sena’s head Eaknath Shinde to be appointed the new Chief Minister of the state surprising all. Thus dramatically Shinde was appointed as the Chief Minister and Fudnavis as his deputy. Therefore Fadnavis has sacrificed the coveted post of Chief Minister in favor of Shinde and accordingly governor has anointed him as the new Chief Minister. So in an unprecedented move Shinde took the oath of office and secrecy as the Chief Minister on 1st of July 2022 along with Fadnavis as the deputy Chief Minister thus solving the political crises. Devinder Fadnavis deserves salute, praise and kudos for agreeing to offer the post of Chief Minister to Shinde the chief of the breakaway group of the Shiv Sena. This act of sacrifice of Fudnavis shows the discipline and commitment of the BJP as well as its being a cadre based party. This political development shows that in politics there are possibilities and anything and everything can happen in the murkier field of politics. Neither Shinde nor Fadnavis and neither the people as well did not expected that political circumstances will take such a turn and and Shinde who has less numbers as compared to Fadnavis will occupy the Chief Ministers chair surprising all and sundry. But the destiny choose it and Shinde was appointed the Chief Minister. Shinde took the oath of office and secrecy and recalled and remembered his mentor Balashaib Thackeray and vowed to follow the path of Hindutva as shown by the founding father of Shiv sena. Immediately after his anointment as the Chief Minister Shinde convened a meeting in which his deputy Fadnavis and other legislators took part and Shinde said that the first priority of his coalition government is the overall development of Maharashtra and also to follow the path as shown by Late Bala Sahib Thackeray. In fact Shinde is a true Shiv Sanik to whom the philosophy of Shiv Sena is the Path bearer and he has resolved to tread the path of Hindutva as shown by Late Bala Sahib Thackeray. The cabinet and other ministers will be inducted in the government on 2nd of July and they will take oath of office and secrecy on Saturday the 2nd of July 2022.Shinde had flown to Goa where all his rebel legislators are camping and parleys are going in the Shinde Shiv Sena for the names to be inducted in to the government. The Shinde group of rebel Shiv Sena MLAs are expected to reach to Bombai on the morning of Saturday to take oath of the office and secrecy. The state BJP under its president Fadnavis is also discussing and finalizing the names of its legislators to be inducted into the government. Shinde may have to make a tight rope walk and he has to face the big challenge of running the coalition government and initially he has to strike a happy balance of the composition of the cabinet am d make it much representative. The natural justice says that the Chief Ministers chair should be given to the legislator who has more numbers and in the present case of the Maharashtra political crises BJP has 106 MLA,s and therefore Davinder Fudnavis was the natural and first choice but the. BJP high command decided otherwise and left room open for Shiv Sena’s Shinde to head the coalition government and this move of the BJP will in fact give strength to the party as Fadnavis will besides attending to the work of the government as the deputy Chief Minister will look after the affairs of the BJP so that in the course of time the BJP will be in a position to have a full-fledged power and having absolute majority in the assembly. It is for the strengthening the BJP in the state of Maharashtra that Fandnavis was asked to give the chair of the Chief Minister to Shinde and the former Chief Minister and the present chief of the B . JP has agreed and thus has sacrificed the post of Chief Minister in favor of Shinde. This act of sacrificing the coveted post of Chief Minister in favor of Shinde shows the magnanimity of Fadnavis. Now that Eknath Shinde has usurped the power in the state, all eyes are set as to how will he steer the ship of Maharashtra to safe shore and how is he is going to deliver. Shinde has been given time up to 4th July to prove majority in the assembly. It is hoped that new Chief Minister Shinde will come up to the expectation of the gullible people of the state. Shinde along with hid deputy Fadnavis has to play a significant role in the deliverance of good governance and ensuring transparency and overall development of Maharashtra. The rise of Shinde from an auto driver to the seat of Chief Minister is marvelous as he is a down to earth man and thus he is expected to work for the common man and the downtrodden sections of the society. He has fought the assembly elections in Maharashtra four times and has been always been elected as the legislator an d thus he has a long experience e as a legislator which will help him in ruling the state in an efficient manner and thus coming as a successful Chief Minister. Shinde should not believe in political vendetta and vengeance against his political opponents and the opposition in a democracy is as important as the ruling party or parties and as such Shinde should respect his opposition party and never do anything which smells foul and is construed as the political vendetta against his detractors of Shiv Sena Uddhav Thackeray. Thus should Shinde work for the development and good governance of the state an d he should work to keep his flock together and this is a big challenge to the Shinde. Since BJP is the natural allay of the Shiv Sena so the ideology of Hindutva is same for the two parties and as such Shinde will not divorce the agenda of Hindutva but will uphold it and work on the path shown by his mentor late Bala Sahib Thackeray. The litmus test of his style of functioning is how will he govern the state and ensure overall development of the state and how will he deliver justice to the people and ensure peace, prosperity and development besides good go o governance and transparency in the political system? Shinde has wrested power from Uddhav and it is to be seen that will Shinde take away Shiv Sena as well from Uddhav.It is also to be seen that will the Shinde group stake claim on the party symbol as well and this if agreed and given by the election commission will be the last nail in the coffin of the Shiv Sena of Uddhav and thus it will be a great setback to the Shiv Sena. The time will only tell as to how will the Uddhav lead his party in the coming days. It is hoped that the new Chief Minister will be a peoples CM and he will take necessary steps for the security and welfare of the people. At the moment nothing certain can be said about the governance by the new Chief Minister but it is hoped that he will come up to the expectations of the people. The symbol is one and Shiv senas are two and both the factions of the Shiv Sena are claiming to be the real Shiv Sena and there are two claimants of Shiv Sena and it is the election commission which will decide which group of Shiv Sena can used the symbol of a bow and arrow and that group will be Shiv Sena in reality. Now Uddhav will have to work hard to save Shiv Sena from route. Shinde will work in close coordination with BJP and will give a stable coalition government to the people and also work on the philosophy of Hindutva enunciated by late Bala Sahib Thackeray. It will be interesting to see as to who will carry forward the legacy and philosophy of Shiv Sena the son Uddhav or Shinde the disciple. Only time will tell the truth. In short it is hoped that new Chief Minister Shinde will take Maharashtra to new heights of development.
(The author is a columnist and social activist).