Fission And Coalition

Will a Shiv Sena-NCP-Congress government come to power in Maharashtra or will there be another Operation Lotus?

- Dnyanesh Jathar

On November 10, while addressing Shiv Sena legislators at The Retreat, a seaside resort on Mumbai’s Madh Island, party chairperson Uddhav Thackeray said Shiv Sena had, so far, been the bearer of the palanquin in which others sat. This time, he said, the party would occupy the palanquin. “I will ensure that the next chief minister of Maharashtra will be a Shiv Sainik,” he said to a huge round of applause.

This was a promise he had made his father and Shiv Sena founder Balasaheb Thackeray. And, since October 24, when the state election results were announced, Thackeray had been treading cautiously to realize this promise. In fact, he was so determined to do so that he even ignored phone calls by outgoing chief minister Devendra Fadnavis. The BJP, with 105 seats, had refused to share the chief ministership on a rotational basis.

Counseled by Sanjay Raut, editor of party mouthpiece Saamana, Uddhav had decided to leave the National Democratic Alliance on the same day. The events of the following day, however, took the wind out of the Sena’s sail. When Maharashtra Governor B.S. Koshyari asked whether the Sena, which had 56 seats, could form the government, the party swung into action. Early on November 11, Union Minister Arvind Sawant tweeted that he was resigning. Said Raut: “Our alliance with the BJP is just a formality now. They are willing to sit in the opposition but are not willing to share power as decided before the Lok Sabha elections. They can have an alliance with Mehbooba Mufti (in Jammu and Kashmir), but will not give us what was agreed upon. This is the BJP’s arrogance.”