Fadnavis not keen on BJP’s Op Lotus in Maharashtra

Despite indications from a section of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of a Karnataka-styled Operation Lotus in Maharashtra, former chief minister Devendra Fadnavis

Despite indications from a section of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of a Karnataka-styled Operation Lotus in Maharashtra, former chief minister Devendra Fadnavis seems to have ruled out any move to engineer defections in other parties to form the next government.

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The BJP has officially said that no government is possible in Maharashtra without it, but party insiders admit that the state unit is now looking at a short-term stint in the Opposition or re-elections after six months as a possibility. “Fadnavis has said that the party will not engage in horse-trading or winning away MLAs now to form the government. This will damage the party’s image among people. If at all these three parties (Congress, Nationalist Congress Party and Shiv Sena) form the government, they cannot last for more than four-six months. In the meanwhile, we can also occupy the entire Opposition space,” said a senior BJP leader and a close aide of Fadnavis.

Last week, former chief minister and now BJP leader Narayan Rane said the party would break legislators to reach a majority of 145 seats in the Vidhan Sabha. Senior BJP leaders also indicated that they could tap into the Sena or Congress MLAs for this. But Fadnavis has vetoed this saying it would malign BJP’s image.

The party’s senior state leaders have also left the fate of the government formation on its Delhi leadership. “PM Modi and our party chief Amit Shah know what’s happening. They will have a strategy in place so we are not worried,” said another senior state functionary.

While a section of the BJP state leaders think that a backdoor deal with the NCP is still possible, a senior BJP leader and minister admitted that things between the top brass of the two parties were amiss since the Lok Sabha polls.

NCP chief Sharad Pawar had then taken a lead in putting together a platform of anti-BJP coalition together. In the last month’s state elections, Pawar was the face of the Opposition and was pitted against Fadnavis as well as BJP’s Delhi leadership.

And, while no elected MLA wants to hear about a re-election, it is also something that the BJP may start prepping for if the party can’t form the next government.

For the time being, BJP is maintaining its stance that they are still likely to form the next government in Maharashtra.

“If one analyses the poll results, it is evident that the BJP is the number one party in the state. We won 1.42 crore votes, followed by NCP which won 92 lakh and Sena which won 90 lakh votes. With 105 legislators and support of another 14 independent legislators, we are assured that no government can be formed without us,” said state chief Chandrakant Patil, in a media briefing at the end of the second day of the state executive meeting in Dadar.The party’s three-day state level huddle is aimed at organisational rejig starting from booth-level to the state. Party MLAs and district chiefs have been asked to go back and work in their constituencies from the booth-level upwards to participate in the organisational changes. They were also asked to go to rural areas to assist farmers to get their crop insurance payouts for the losses suffered in the unseasonal rain.