Maharashtra - One Chair, Three Cheers

How the Shiv Sena-NCP-Congress alliance fought its way to power

- Dnyanesh Jathar

On November 23, at around 7am, Nationalist Congress Party president Sharad Pawar found out that Devendra Fadnavis had been sworn in as Maharashtra chief minister and Ajit Pawar, his nephew and leader of NCP legislature party, was Fadnavis’s deputy. Shaken to the core, Pawar reportedly rang up Ajit, but his phone was switched off. This triggered the endgame of the game of thrones that had begun after the state election results were declared on October 24.

Having had no luck with Ajit, Pawar then called Uddhav Thackeray. After a brief chat, the two agreed to hold a joint media briefing. By that time, senior NCP leaders had rushed to Pawar’s residence in South Mumbai. They soon listed the names of all NCP legislators and began dialling them one by one, only to deliver a terse message: “Saheb has called an urgent meeting, all must be present.”

According to an NCP insider, at first, 23 of the 54 legislators were not reachable. This caused panic in the NCP and a team of strategists began tracing them furiously. Meanwhile, Dr Rajendra Shingne, a legislator present at the swearing-in ceremony, had managed to slip out. He rushed to the Silver Oak residence and told Pawar what had happened.

“Around 12 at night, I received a call from Ajit dada,” said Shingne, a former minister. “He told me there is an important meeting at 7am at B-4, the bungalow of [NCP MLA] Dhananjay Munde. When I reached, Ajit dada was not there, but a few other legislators were present. All of us were then taken to the Raj Bhavan. We had no clue why we were going. Soon, Ajit dada and Fadnavis arrived and took oath. That is when we felt something was amiss. So, I decided to rush to Pawar saheb’s residence.”