Uncivil strife

The increasing friction between Eknath Shinde and Ajit Pawar could test the strength of the saffron alliance

- DNYANESH JATHAR

A FEW WEEKS AGO, after the tragic death of nearly 20 people in a day at the municipal general hospital at Kalwa in Thane city, there was a spat between Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar. After a cabinet meeting, Ajit asked Shinde how so many people could die in a single day at a hospital in ‘his’ Thane. A visibly irked Shinde told Ajit that he was chief minister not just for Thane, but for entire Maharashtra. Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had to step in to salvage the situation.

Recent developments in Maharashtra point to persistent unease and increasing friction between Shinde and Ajit. Another example of the growing tension is the chief minister’s note asking all files from all departments to him to be routed through Fadnavis. It effectively means that Ajit, who holds key portfolios such as finance and planning, cannot send his files to the chief minister directly, but only through Fadnavis. To be fair to Shinde, he used to follow this practice earlier, too—but it was before Ajit and his team of Nationalist Congress Party rebels were inducted into the cabinet.

The political and administrative situation in Maharashtra has changed quite a lot after Ajit’s entry. His ambition to become chief minister is an open secret. He blames his uncle, Shard Pawar, for not being able to give Maharashtra a chief minister from the NCP. Similarly, he has also publicly said that he is not interested in continuing as deputy chief minister for long. “I, too, have a vision for the development of the state and I want to see it implemented,” he once said.