Shinde-Fadnavis sail through first session

“I am firm where I am sitting

“I am firm where I am sitting.” This remark by chief minister Eknath Shinde during a debate in the assembly on law and order summed up the exuberant mood of a relatively not-very-old ruling alliance that just sailed through an acrimonious monsoon session.

Deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis arriving at Vidhan Bhavan on Thursday Anshuman Poyrekar/HT Photo

Undoubtedly, the fate of this government hinges on the Supreme Court’s verdict on a clutch of petitions related to the split in Shiv Sena. But the six-day session, the first for the Eknath Shinde-Devendra Fadnavis government, saw both sides overcome their initial hiccups to handle the legislature even as the three allies in the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) took time to get their act together.

The hostility was visible with the MVA launching a bitter attack on “traitors”. Legislators from Sena and the NCP targeted the Shinde-led faction over the alleged ₹50 crore deal the rebel MLAs were lured with to pull down the government in June. Shinde-Fadnavis hit back by announcing a number of probes into the decisions taken by the MVA government as well as the functioning of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation which was ruled by Sena for almost three decades.

The animosity is an indication of what is expected in the run-up to the local body polls likely to be held in the next few months.

As the session began, it was expected that the opposition parties would create problems for the six-week-old government grappling with formation of the cabinet and allocation of portfolios to 18 new ministers. The Nationalist Congress Party and Sena did adopt an aggressive stand but had their limitations.

Ruling parties, on the other hand, did not hesitate to issue veiled threats, especially to the leader of opposition in the assembly, Ajit Pawar, that all the pending probes could be reopened. The hostility even led to an ugly scuffle between two MLAs from rival sides at the entrance to Vidhan Bhavan on Wednesday.

While the six-day session saw Shinde-Fadnavis taking control of the government, it also witnessed Thackeray scion Aaditya leading the charge of the party in the legislature. Former chief minister Uddhav Thackeray who is yet to resign as member of the legislative council did not attend the session but his son made it a point to do so regularly.

On Thursday, he seemed aggressive as he led a group of MVA legislators to raise slogans, beginning with “50 khoke, ekdam ok”. The Shinde faction which had earlier warned the Bharatiya Janata Party leaders not to target the Thackeray family sought to ridicule him and even displayed a cartoon lampooning him.

“It is just like sledging in cricket or football against a player who the rivals know would become troublesome,” Aaditya quipped when reporters asked him about the rebels targeting him.

It seems that the bitter tussle in the legislature could soon spill on to the streets.