Ceasefire between CM Devendra Fadnavis and Eknath Shinde?

Fadnavis and Shinde's cold war raises questions on potential ceasefire as political tensions escalate in Maharashtra with recent controversies and resignations.

Is there going to be a ceasefire between chief minister Devendra Fadnavis and deputy chief minister Eknath Shinde, who are locked in a cold war? This is the chatter now after Fadnavis reversed his decision to appoint an IAS officer to head the Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC). According to transport department officials, a proposal was moved to hand over the responsibility of the MSRTC to transport minister Pratap Sarnaik of Shiv Sena. Sarnaik himself thanked Fadnavis on social media on Saturday but later deleted the post when he found out that an official order had not been issued. This came immediately after Ajay Ashar, an aide of Shinde, was dropped from Maharashtra Institute for Transformation (MITRA), a state think tank for future development of Maharashtra.

CM Devendra Fadnavis and his deputy Eknath Shinde have been locked in a cold war over the appointment of MSRTC head. (ANI)

Some see the MSRTC decision as a peace offering by Fadnavis who has already put on hold a few decisions and ordered a probe into some other decisions taken in the tenure of the previous Shinde-led Mahayuti government. His aides said Fadnavis did not want the ruling alliance to be a divided house when it was facing trouble: One of its ministers, Dhananjay Munde, had to resign within two months of the formation of the government and two more—agriculture minister Manikrao Kokate (NCP) and rural development minister Jaykumar Gore (BJP)-are embroiled in controversies.

A Sena minister close to Shinde, however, has a different take. According to him, the BJP leadership in the state has realised that a “free for all” among allies could damage not just Sena or NCP but even the BJP itself. Allegations were also made against BJP leader Mohit Kamboj that he has been interfering in the irrigation department’s affairs. Mahayuti legislators were surprised when Opposition leader Ambadas Danve alleged in legislative council that irrigation secretary was taking orders from Kamboj and he had heard audio recording of the phone calls. Further, Gore is facing charges of harassing a woman. Both Kamboj and Gore are considered to be strong supporters of Fadnavis and BJP leaders suspect that the Opposition could be getting a little help from its unhappy allies, the Sena minister pointed out.

So, will there be peace in the ruling camp now or will it just be a ceasefire?

NCP’s time to return favour

Talking of peace and ceasefire, the attack on Munde by its allies, especially BJP, has not gone down well with Ajit Pawar’s NCP. The party has grabbed the opportunity as BJP legislator Suresh Dhas (who led the attack against Munde over Beed sarpanch murder) is facing the heat over a viral video of his supporter Satish Bhosle assaulting a man with a cricket bat. Activist Anjali Damania posted the video on social media on Wednesday. Shiv Sena took potshots at Dhas while NCP also decided to attack him. Party spokesperson Anand Paranjpe took a press conference and trained his guns on Dhas. He reminded the BJP of a Marathi phrase which meant people should practise what they preach. He also said there should be a probe into allegations that Dhas grabbed land owned by a temple trust. BJP has chosen not to react while Dhas has distanced himself from the worker saying the police can act as per law.

First attack and then courtesy visit

BJP minister Pankaja Munde surprised everyone with her reaction after her cousin Dhananjay Munde resigned as minister on Tuesday. Better late than never, said Pankaja, the state environment minister. She also opined that Dhananjay should not have been inducted in the cabinet in the first place (if he was being accused of supporting Walmik Karad). On Thursday, however she met him at Dhananjay’s official residence. Her office said it was a courtesy visit to inquire about her brother’s health since he is suffering from Bell’s Palsy. Though Pankaja has buried the hatchet with her cousin, the current developments could give her an upper hand in Beed vis-a-vis her brother.

Pep talk to Oppn leaders

Are the Opposition parties doing enough to corner Mahayuti? NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar doesn’t think so. In a meeting of MVA leaders at Y B Chavan Center last week, Pawar pointed out that the Opposition needed to take advantage of political situation when a minister had to resign and two others were facing controversies. Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray too felt the same. However, the three MVA parties continued to be busy with their own issues. While Thackeray and Pawar are struggling to keep their flock together, state Congress is occupied with the peace march of its newly appointed chief Harshvardhan Sapkal and the government is having a smooth sailing the ongoing budget session.