In mid-November, when the whole country is eyeing the Gujarat assembly elections of 2022, Maharashtra is experiencing a verbal fight between the BJP and the Uddhav-led Shiv Sena. On November 5, Maharashtra’s deputy CM and former CM said that he took revenge by toppling the Uddhav Thackeray-led MVA (Maha Vikas Aghadi ) government. Now former CM Uddhav Thackeray hit back at Devendra Fadnavis by saying that Delhi ( BJP central leadership) took revenge by demoting Devendra Fadnavis to Deputy CM as he was the CM from 2014- 2019.
Maharashtra’s Political Turmoil
BJP and the United Shiv Sena formed a coalition government in 2014, and Devendra Fadnavis was made CM of Maharashtra. In 2019, BJP and Shivsena went into elections together and won elections. Now, the tussle between both parties arrives over the CM post. Uddhav Thackeray wanted the CM post for himself, but the BJP was trying to keep its stronghold on the state government, and they wanted Devendra Fadnavis to be CM of Maharashtra.
Then Shiv Sena ended the coalition with BJP and formed a new coalition with NCP and congress that paved the way for the CM post for Uddhav Thackeray. The newly formed Maha Vikas Agahdi (MVA ) government lasted till July 2022. Then Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shinde rebelled against Uddhav Thackeray and made an alliance with the BJP with his trusted MLAs. Eknath Shinde was made CM from the BSS side, and Devendra Fadnavis was made deputy CM from the BJP side.Â
Now the Badla politics of Devendra Fadnavis and Uddhav Thackeray
On November 5, 2022, Maharashtra’s Deputy CM, Devendra Fadnavis, said that he took revenge on Uddhav Thackeray by making Eknath Shinde CM, which led to the fragmentation of Shiv Sena into two parts. Eknath Shinde led the BSS Balasahebnchi Shiv Sena and Uddhav Thackeray’s Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray ).
Devendra Fadnavis meant by the “revenge” word that Uddhav Thackeray fought elections on the grounds of Hindutva ( common ideology of both BJP and Shiv Sena) and he betrayed the mandate by making an alliance with the NCP and Congress that have different or completely opposite ideologies. Devendra Fadnavis said that people voted for the BJP and Sena alliance as they saw the example of good governance in Maharashtra under his domain.
BSS ( Balasahebnchi Shiv Sena ) leaders feeling uneasy
After the comments of Devendra Fadnavis, some leaders within the government are feeling uneasy as they see their alliance with BJP initiated by themselves whereas Devendra Fadnavis turned tail by saying that it was all his doing and he was taking revenge.
Uddhav Thackeray comments on Delhi
Uddhav Thackeray said that the BJP demoted Devendra Fadnavis by making him deputy CM, as he was CM earlier. His comments meant that the central leadership was being the uprising of Devendra Fadnavis in Maharashtra and Goa politics, so the central leadership of Delhi made him accept the deputy CM post so that he does not get out of hand.
The Loss of Maharashtra – Losing crores of mega projects
After the political reshuffle in Maharashtra, a major setback came for the Marathi people as two major projects that could have been fruitful for the people of Maharashtra by creating jobs and infrastructure went to Gujarat instead of Maharashtra. Both these projects, the Tata Airbus C-295 transport aircraft project of 22,000 crores and the Vedanta-Foxconn project of 1.63 lakh crores, got transferred to Gujarat. The main reason behind the transfer of these projects to Gujarat could be the upcoming Gujarat Assembly election in 2022.
The BJP wants to tell people, especially PM Narendra Modi and Home minister Amit Shah that they have not forgotten the people of Gujarat and will continue to bring investment in Gujarat. The moving of these projects from Maharashtra gave Uddhav Thackeray reason to believe that,
Delhi has taken revenge on the people of Maharashtra by snatching away jobs and infrastructure from the Maharashtrian people and also from Devendra Fadnavis by making him deputy to someone who worked under him in his earlier regime.
The outcome of these Comments by Uddhav Thackeray and Devendra Fadnavis
There are some speculations going around the Maharashtra assembly that the BJP and bifurcated Shiv Sena can come together before 2024 as both of these parties are going to face losses in the state. The BJP and Shiv Sena have been in the coalition because of Bala Saheb Thackeray, Lal Krishan Advani, Pramod Mahajan, and Atal Bihari Vajpeyi. Both parties (BJP and Shiv Sena) have been benefiting from this alliance and together they are fetching more votes. If these parties (All three) go into elections separately then there would be no vote bank and they can vanish from Maharashtra politics.
