Maharashtra Political Battle : BJP-NCP again to come together?
Maharashtra political battle is yet not over. In 2019, Maharashtra political drama was the talk of the town. BJP-Shiv Sena contested election together and got majority however, Sena broke apart from BJP. BJP in turn formed an alliance with Ajit Pawar of NCP and formed government for 3 days in state. Since then a new coalition, Maha Vikas Aghadi (NCP-Shiv Sena-Congess) have been ruling the state of Maharashtra.
From very first day a question has been raised, “How long will the new Coalition Last?” Be it Bihar or be it Karnataka, there has been attempt to form new coalition but both failed. Former Maharashtra CM Devendra Fandavis has made a shocking revelation regarding that the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) wanted to join hands with Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) during his first term as Chief Minister of Maharashtra. He said that the NCP was in talks with BJP to form a government after they realized that BJP-Shiv Sena relation in Maharashtra was no more the same as it was before Assembly election of 2014.
Why Maharashtra Political Battle is Back to Life Once Again?
“Two years ago, NCP desired to ally with us. A few discussions were held regarding this. But at that time, our Central leadership said that we can’t do this by leaving out Shiv Sena. We can isolate Congress. We can do this if Shiv Sena remains with us. When our Central leadership said this, the alliance proposal that had progressed quite a lot was put on the backburner.” Said the Former Maharashtra Chief Minister, Devendra Fadnavis.
There has been nothing well in present Maharashtra government. One of the allies of MVA in Maharashtra, Congress has been accusing the Sena-NCP of ignoring them and also not taking their suggestions are including them in decision making process. At the same time BJP which has 104 MLAs and is the single largest party in Maharashtra assembly is well aware of the weakness of current Maharashtra Government. They may be waiting for right time to return to power in state once again.
In an interview with Marathi journalist Raju Parulekar, Devendra Fadnavis revealed why they formed government with NCP in Maharashtra in 2019. He said, “After denial by Sharad Pawar, one day, Ajit Pawar came to us and said that government consisting of 3 parties (INC, Shiv Sena, NCP) will be unstable and thus for the benefit of Maharashtra he is ready to form the government with BJP.” However, Fadnavis did not mention whether Sharad Pawar gave consent for the new alliance between BJP-NCP in Maharashtra in 2019.
It has been more than 6 months since MVA government came to power in Maharashtra. BJP has been sitting in opposition though being the single largest party in Maharashtra assembly and having about double the seats than the party that came 2nd in the state, Shiv Sena. Rumors have been doing round that there are talks going on between NCP faction led by Ajit Pawar and BJP once again to form government.
Due to the COVID-19 crisis and the inability of Maharashtra government to handle it, the current government in state have been under public scrutiny. NCP fears that it may lose the support of people that it was able to garner during Maharashtra Assembly election 2019 if it continues to stay with current government. BJP on the other hand are no more in rush to fall prey of rumors and are waiting the government to fall on its own.
In an interview with Raju Parulekar, Fadnavis also expressed his desire to form alliance with Raj Thackeray’s MNS as the party now has adopted a complete saffron outlook. There has also been several occasions when Raj Thackeray who has been critical to BJP in past have spoked in favor of BJP after the formation of MVA government in Maharashtra.
Whether BJP-NCP alliance will it take place or not it is for time to decide but there has been indication of two parties coming together once again. In recent Gujarat Rajya Sabha Election the lone Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) MLA Kandhal Jadeja voted in favor of BJP. However, NCP in Gujarat have issued a show-cause notice against the MLA for cross voting, but he has not been disqualified from the party.
Maharashtra Political Battle is far from being over. However, the current COVID19 crisis did put a break on BJP’s plan to reconquer the state. Uddhav Thackeray is unable to handle the situation added to it there is growing discontent within the alliance members too. BJP is no more keen to go back to its former ally Shiv Sena therefore, it may form an alliance with NCP if there is an offer from the party once again.
Maharashtra Political Battle : BJP-NCP again to come together?
Read: NDA Strong States more likely to worry about Pakistan, rest worry about China