Who holds the reins in the groom's dance of Maharashtra politics?

Sulking grooms are known to downgrade their demands, when they see that they are not being met

- ABHAY MOKASHI

The events before the swearing in of Devendra Fadnavis as Chief Minister, and of his two deputies Ajit Pawar and Eknath Shinde, were akin to the drama that is witnessed in a typical marriage in Maharashtra and in many other states, where the bridegroom refuses to reach the venue unless his demands are met.

In such situations senior members of the bride's family are sent to pacify the groom. In this case, Shinde was like the sulking bridegroom and Fadnavis the bride in waiting. In a marriage, the demands are generally to do with dowry demands, which in turn means material things. Though Shinde's demands are not officially known, according to the grapevine Shinde's first choice was to be the Chief Minister, though his party has won less than half the seats won by Bharatiya Janata Party, which had decided to make Fadnavis the CM.

Sulking grooms are known to downgrade their demands, when they see that they are not being met. Same has been the case of Shinde; if not the Chief Minister's post, he had apparently demanded the Home and Urban Development Ministries. This demand is akin to the demand for material things by the groom, since political leaders and media persons call these ministries lucrative—the meaning being clear to the public at large.