A day after the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)’s bid to form government in Maharashtra with the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP)’s Ajit Pawar came undone, party leaders said developments in the state ,with a three-party combine taking on the BJP, was similar to that in Uttar Pradesh, where the opposition buried its differences to take on the BJP collectively.
“…it is now a polar contest in Maharashtra. It is the BJP against all else,” a senior party leader said on condition of anonymity,
In Uttar Pradesh, ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, three political entities -- the Samajwadi Party, the Bahujan Samaj Party and the Rashtriya Lok Dal -- announced a mahagathbandhan or a grand coalition to challenge the BJP for the 80 seats the politically crucial state fills in the lower house. Just as the grand coalition that came together, despite their ideological differences, could not prevent the BJP from emerging as the party with the largest number of MPs from UP, the combined opposition will not be able to dent the party’s standing in Maharashtra, a second BJP functionary said.
In UP, the BJP-led NDA won 64 seats; the SP and BSP together won just 15. The Congress, which was not part of the coalition won a single seat and the RLD none.
{{/usCountry}}In UP, the BJP-led NDA won 64 seats; the SP and BSP together won just 15. The Congress, which was not part of the coalition won a single seat and the RLD none.
{{/usCountry}}“We don’t want to appear envious or resentful, but let’s see how long this government of disparate parties lasts,” the second functionary said in a reference to the Maharashtra government, which will be sworn in on Thursday.
The party seems to have no rancour towards NCP leader Ajit Pawar, who was sworn in as deputy chief minister in a hurried ceremony on Saturday, but could not convince his party colleagues to support a BJP-led government in the state. The party leaders dismissed speculation about Pawar’s role in first offering the support of his party colleagues to a BJP-led government and then not delivering.
On Tuesday, BJP’s Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar resigned from their positions as chief minister and deputy chief minister after the Supreme Court ordered a floor test by Wednesday to determine the strength of the BJP-led government.
Unable to muster the numbers, both Pawar and Fadnavis resigned. The first functionary cited above said the BJP does not blame Pawar for not delivering nor does it believe that he deliberately misled the party into making a pitch for forming the government.
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