Amid strong indications that the Bharatiya Janata Party was considering replacing Shiv Sena’s Eknath Shinde as the Maharashtra Chief Minister and appointing NCP’s Ajit Pawar to the post, Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis has finally broken his silence on the matter and claimed that no such move was in the works.
Ever since the induction of Ajit Pawar and other rebel NCP MLAs into the government, there has been a visible unease within the Shinde faction of the Shiv Sena. Pawar was administered oath as the Deputy CM of the state while 7 other NCP MLAs were sworn in as ministers. The threat of disqualification, a decision pending with the Speaker, made the concerns within the bloc justifiable.
On the other hand, the NCP is caught in a tailspin of its own. NCP president Sharad Pawar has vowed action against the Ajit faction that has claimed control over the party he founded. Yet, the MLAs on either side of the party divide are far from convinced about which side to pick.
Amidst signals of another political upheaval in Maharashtra, CM Shinde dashed to Delhi earlier this week and is reported to have called on the senior leadership of the Bharatiya Janata Party. This was Shinde’s second visit to Delhi within a week. He was in the capital to attend a meeting of the NDA on July 18.
Sena leaders, however, dismissed conjectures that Shinde’s trip had anything to do with a regime change in Maharashtra and claimed that a cabinet expansion was on the cards soon. There is speculation that the exercise may be carried out only after the Monsoon Session of the ongoing Assembly ends.
Meanwhile, speaking to reporters on Monday, Fadnavis said there was no question of a change in guard as Maharashtra CM and claimed that Ajit Pawar was made well aware of it during discussions on July 2.
“As a leader of the single largest party in ‘Mahayuti’ (grand alliance), I am officially telling you that Ajit Pawar will not become the chief minister of Maharashtra,” Fadnavis told reporters on the premises of Vidhan Bhavan, adding that Pawar was given a clear picture about the power-sharing formula and he had agreed to it.
“He (Ajit) not only agreed to it but also made it clear in his speech that there is no discussion on changing the guard in Maharashtra,” he said.
Fadnavis’ remarks came after Congress leaders and former Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan claimed that Ajit Pawar would be appointed as the CM around August 10 after a decision on the disqualification of CM Shinde and 15 other MLAs of Shiv Sena.
“After deciding the disqualification of Shinde and other MLAs, incumbent Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar would be anointed as the chief minister around August 10,” the former chief minister told a regional news channel, as quoted by PTI.
Chavan had also claimed that the BJP is not keen on contesting the next Lok Sabha elections under Shinde “as he wields no influence outside his home district of Thane”.
“The BJP now has an alternative in Ajit Pawar,” Chavan said. “This is the fate of Shinde. The understanding of top BJP leadership indicates they want to make Ajit Pawar the chief minister and face elections,” he added.