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Mahayuti shows unity on stage, but strains surface behind smiles
BJP and Shiv Sena agree on a truce after poaching disputes, but tensions remain. Meanwhile, opposition leadership posts await resolution amid political friction.
MUMBAI: After weeks of bitter tussle over the poaching of each other’s local leaders, the BJP and Shiv Sena seem to have agreed on a truce. A day after senior BJP minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule said that the two parties will not poach each other’s people, deputy chief minister Eknath Shinde and state BJP chief Ravindra Chavan came together at a public function in Dombivli. Even as the duo shared the dais, in a seeming show of unity, the fault lines were visible. Sena leader and industries minister Uday Samant who was sitting between the duo got up and offered his seat to Chavan, following which the latter began chatting with Shinde. However, the body language of the deputy CM did not seem very friendly.
In the same function, Shinde’s son and Kalyan MP Shrikant Shinde did not mince his words. “Many people tried to dig ditches to put me in trouble but it was them who suffered,” he remarked. Despite the father-son duo’s public expression of anger, the BJP seems to have decided to continue with the truce. Chavan on Sunday posted on social media that the entry of Abhijit Tharval to the BJP has been put on hold. Tharval, a local leader of Shiv Sena in Dombivli, had recently switched to the BJP, evoking protests by Sena leaders.
A long wait for a post
There has been a long wait for Shiv Sena (UBT) MLA Bhaskar Jadhav and Congress legislator Satej Patil. During the budget session of the state legislature in March-April, the two legislators were chosen by their parties for the post of opposition leaders. MLA from Guhagar in Ratnagiri, Jadhav is Shiv Sena (UBT)’s choice for the post of opposition leader in assembly that the party has staked claim on. Patil, a member of the legislative council, is Congress’ nominee for the same in the upper house. Congress is the main opposition party in the legislative council and as such Patil’s appointment is not difficult. However, in the assembly, the largest opposition party, Shiv Sena (UBT), does not have enough numbers - that is at least 10% of the assembly strength - to stake claim on the LoP post, say Mahayuti leaders. Jadhav is insisting that there is no such rule. Within the Mahayuti, chief minister Devendra Fadnavis and deputy CM Ajit Pawar seem to be in favour of the appointment of opposition leader but deputy CM Eknath Shinde is strongly opposed to the same going to Shiv Sena (UBT). The two legislators are hoping that the decision by the presiding officers of both the houses of legislature will happen in the winter session in Nagpur.
The breach in family tradition?
The Pawar clan’s tradition of all family members coming together for celebrations seems to have been discontinued if the two recent weddings are anything to go by. The family’s head and NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar and his daughter Supriya Sule skipped the destination wedding of deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar’s younger son Jay in Bahrain on Friday which was attended by the rest of the Pawar clan.
Apart from the fact that the father-daughter duo were in Delhi for the winter session of Parliament, a possible reason for the no-show could be because Ajit did not attend the wedding of his nephew Yugendra Pawar, on November 30 in Mumbai, according to party sources. Yugendra was NCP (SP) candidate in Baramati assembly constituency opposite Ajit and had vigorously campaigned against the latter. Even after he lost the election, he continues to work in the constituency. Significantly, Yugendra’s father and Ajit’s brother Shrinivas Pawar too did not go to Bahrain.
A quiet anniversary
The Mahayuti government completed one year in office on Friday but the celebrations were subdued, mostly because of the local body polls and the code of conduct. There was no function organised by the three ruling parties together. While Fadnavis celebrated the completion of his first year in his third term as CM with a group of youth who got government jobs through a quota for orphans, his deputy Eknath Shinde was busy with his programmes while the other deputy Ajit Pawar was busy with the wedding of his younger son Jay. This was in stark contrast with the first-year anniversary of the previous Mahayuti government led by Shinde when there were big bang celebrations.
Allies not in sync over tree cutting
In an unusual development, both the allies of BJP—Shiv Sena and NCP--have strongly opposed the controversial plan to cut 1,700 trees for Sadhugram, a temporary facility for sadhus coming for Sinhastha Kumbh at Nashik. Citizens and environment activists in Nashik are strongly opposing the plan. While Fadnavis insisted that the plan would not be rolled back, Ajit Pawar has openly objected to the large-scale tree cutting. Now even Shinde led Shiv Sena has opposed the same with party’s local workers tying rakhis to the trees that are marked to be cut. BJP minister Girish Mahajan who is in charge of Kumbh arrangements is insisting that 15,000 trees will be planted and transplanted but the government is facing the ire of the people over the issue.
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