THE SEEDS OF revolt in the Shiv Sena over the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi were sown even before the coalition was formed in 2019. Eknath Shinde, who was then the most important person in the party after Uddhav Thackeray, had urged the party leadership not to join hands with the ideologically incompatible Congress and Nationalist Congress Party. Thackeray ignored the advice, but he made Shinde swear he would remain loyal to the party. More than two and a half years later, Shinde has broken that promise. On June 21, he asked Thackeray over phone from a five-star hotel in Surat, Gujarat, to break ties with the Congress and the NCP. Shinde, who is urban development minister in Thackeray's cabinet, claimed support of 35 of the Sena's 55 members in the assembly.
The drama began unfolding on June 20, when the BJP's Prasad Lad defeated Congress candidate Chandrakant Handore in the Legislative Council elections. Just 10 days earlier, the BJP's Dhananjay Mahadik had defeated the Shiv Sena's Sanjay Jadhav in the Rajya Sabha polls. On both occasions the BJP candidates did not have the required votes, but sailed through with the help of independents and cross-voting from the Congress and the Shiv Sena.
A week before the Rajya Sabha elections, a delegation of MVA leaders NCP leader Chhagan Bhujbal, Congress leader Sunil Kedar and Sena leader Anil Desai had met BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis and appealed to him for a consensus in the elections. Fadnavis told them if they allowed the BJP to retain three Rajya Sabha seats, the party would not field a candidate in the MLC polls. The MVA rejected the offer. The BJP fielded an extra candidate each to the Rajya Sabha and the MLC and both won. The BJP has 106 legislators. It got 123 votes in the Rajya Sabha elections and 134 in the MLC elections, as most of the independents and five MVA members (two of the Congress and three of the Shiv Sena) voted for BJP candidates.
Denne historien er fra July 03, 2022-utgaven av THE WEEK India.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent ? Logg på
Denne historien er fra July 03, 2022-utgaven av THE WEEK India.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
What Will It Take To Clean Up Delhi Air?
IT IS ASKED, year after year, why Delhi’s air remains unbreathable despite several interventions to reduce pollution.
Trump and the crisis of liberalism
Although Donald Trump's election to a non-consecutive second term to the US presidency is not unprecedented—Grover Cleveland had done it in 1893—it is nevertheless a watershed moment.
Men eye the woman's purse
A couple of months ago, I chanced upon a young 20-something man at my gym walking out with a women’s sling bag.
When trees hold hands
A filmmaker explores the human-nature connect through the living root bridges
Ms Gee & Gen Z
The vibrant Anuja Chauhan and her daughter Nayantara on the generational gap in romance writing
Vikram Seth-a suitable man
Our golden boy of literature was the star attraction at the recent Shillong Literary Festival in mysterious Meghalaya.
Superman bites the dust
When my granddaughter Kim was about three, I often took her to play in a nearby park.
OLD MAN AND THE SEA
Meet G. Govinda Menon, the 102-year-old engineer who had a key role in surveying the Vizhinjam coast in the 1940s, assessing its potential for an international port
Managing volatility: smarter equity choices in uncertain markets
THE INDIAN STOCK MARKET has delivered a strong 11 per cent CAGR over the past decade, with positive returns for eight straight years.
Investing in actively managed low-volatility portfolios keeps risks at bay
AFTER A ROARING bull market over the past year, equity markets in the recent months have gone into a correction mode as FIIs go on a selling spree. Volatility has risen and investment returns are hurt.