BJP sacrifices CM post to prevent public sympathy
After playing a crucial role in the fall of the Uddhav Thackeray-led MVA Government in Maharashtra, in a astute political move, the BJP on Thursday stunned its political rivals by anointing rebel Shiv Sena Minister and Maratha leader Eknath Shinde as the Chief Minister and its own former Chief Minister and senior party leader Devendra Fadnavis, a Brahmin, as the Deputy Chief Minister.
A day after late Sena chief Bal Thackeray’s son Uddhav resigned as the Chief Minister after his once-trusted senior party colleague rebelled against him and reduced his Government into a “minority”, 58-year-old Shinde staked a formal claim for late Balasaheb’s legacy — by invoking the blessings of the late Sena chief during his swearing-in ceremony as the CM and posting his old photo along with late Thackeray on his twitter handle.
Apart from invoking the blessings of late Thackeray, Shinde also invoked the name of Thane district Shiv Sena chief late Anand Dighe who was considered the Bal Thackeray of Thane.
Shinde’s reverence to Dighe should be seen in the light of the fact that Shinde, who was an autorickshaw driver in Thane, has come up through the Sena ranks from being a Shakha pramukh to a senior minister and now the CM.
The Central BJP leadership — which right from day one orchestrated the developments within the ruling Shiv Sena arising out of Shinde’s rebellion that saw him move out of the party with 30-odd rebel MLAs to Surat in the BJP-ruled Gujarat and later to Guwahati and Goa — pulled a rabbit out of the hat as it prevailed upon a reluctant Fadnavis to take oath as the Deputy Chief Minister under the rebel Sena leader. Ironically enough, Shinde had earlier worked as a senior minister for five years in the Fadnavis Cabinet till September-October 2019.
Shinde and Fadnavis were sworn into the office as the Chief Minister and Deputy Chief Minister respectively by Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari at a hurriedly called ceremony at Raj Bhavan in south Mumbai.
By making Shinde the CM instead of its own leader Fadnavis, the BJP wants to take away public sympathy for Uddhav who is being perceived as the victim of machinations of the BJP.
At a media interaction he held jointly with the rebel Sena leader earlier in the afternoon, Fadnavis had taken the entire State by surprise that Shinde would take oath as the next Chief Minister at 7.30 pm and the BJP would support the Shinde Government.
Apparently not happy with the prospect of working under Shinde, Fadnavis had also announced that he would not be part of the Shinde Government. “We have submitted a list of the entire BJP 106 MLAs, the lists of MLAs by Shinde, 16 Independents and others to the Governor. Accordingly, Shinde will be sworn-in alone as the CM this evening at 7.30 pm at Raj Bhavan. I wouldn’t be part of the Government. After the swearing in of Shinde, the Cabinet will be expanded to include Ministers from both the Shinde camp and the BJP,” Fadnavis said.
The BJP leadership, which felt that the absence of Fandavis in the new Government would send a wrong signal to the people in the State, persuaded him to join the Shinde Cabinet as a deputy Chief Minister. BJP national president JP Nanda spoke to Fadnavis and requested him to join the Shinde Cabinet as the Deputy Chief Minister, a request that the senior BJP leader and former chief minister accepted.
Later, a pleased Union Home Minister Amit Shah tweeted, “On the behest of BJP President Shri @JPNadda ji, Shri @Dev_Fadnavis ji has taken a big heart and decided to join the government in the interest of the state of Maharashtra and the people. This decision is a sign of his true loyalty and service towards Maharashtra. For this I heartily congratulate him.”
On his part, Shinde - who has claimed that he enjoys the support of 51 MLAs including 40 out of the 55 Sena MLAs in the State Assembly - drove straight to “Sagar” bungalow, Fadnavis’ official residence as the leader of the Opposition. From there, he and Fadnavis headed to Raj Bhavan and staked claim to form the next Government in the State.
After receiving a go-head from the Governor to form the next Government, both Fadnavis and Shinde interacted with the media jointly.
Shinde profusely thanked Fadnavis for graciously handing over the post of the Chief Ministership to him. “By way of the strength of the MLAs that the BJP has, Fadnavis could have easily become the Chief Minister. But, he has graciously handed over the post to the Shiv Sainik and a loyal soldier of late Balasaheb Thackeray. I am very grateful to him. I had never seen any such person with such a large heart”.
“I will never betray the confidence that Fadnavis has reposed in me. I will fulfil the expectations of the people of the State. You will get to see a stable Government in the State,” Shinde said.
Taking a pot shot at former Chief Minister and parent Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray, Shinde said, “If 50 party MLAs are taking a stand different that of him means he (Uddhav) will have to self-introspection. On several occasions, I had conveyed to him that the people were unhappy with him. But, he ignored my advice. It is nice that Balasaheb’s Shiv Sainik (that is me) is becoming the Chief Minister. I will give a strong and stable government to the state.
Shinde said would work for the progress and development of the State which had practically halted since the past 30 months of the previous government and reiterated that he would follow the ideals of Bahasaheb Thackeray’s Hindutva.
Shinde’s elevation as the Chief Minister came a day after Uddhav resigned from his post at the end of nine-day-long drama that saw Shinde - apparently working in tandem with the Opposition BJP - move along with 30-odd Sena MLA out of Mumbai to land at a Surat Hotel, from where his he flew them to Guwahati where more Sena MLAs joined the rebel MLAs at another five star hotel. The rebel group’s strength swelled to 39 when they flew from Guwahati to Goa on Wednesday night en route to Mumbai.
After announcing his resignation both as the Chief Minister and also an MLC, Uddhav had said, “I am not interested in seeking a trust vote tomorrow. Let them (the rebel MLAs) take credit for bringing down the son of Balasaheb Thackeray. I do not want to take away that happiness from you... I will henceforth sit in the Shiv Sena Bhavan (Party headquarters). You cannot snatch away the Shiv Sena from me.”
for fallen Uddhav