#AG Vallabhan
Mumabi | Paying back in the same coin in a year, BJP targeted NCP’s Sharad Pawar after his decision to form the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi along with Shiv Sena’s Uddhav Thackeray to keep the BJP out of power after Nationalist Congress Party leader Ajit Pawar, backed by several MLAs, took oath as the Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra on Monday in the Eknath Shinde-led government, triggering a shock split in the party.
One has lost the party itself and now the NCP is fighting to keep its identity intact. Making Uddhav Thackeray and Sharad Pawar teethless, BJP aims to make Ajit Pawar the leader of the government in the state after wiping off the entire opposition in Maharashtra.
As per insider reports , there may be change in Chief Ministership with Ajit Pawar taking the mantle from Eknath Shinde with the support of 35 MLAs , 7 more joining him on Monday. With this, Ajit Pawar is now claiming 42 out of the total strength of 53 MLA of NCP.
A year after the Shiv Sena led by Uddhav Thackeray saw a split after the rebellion of Eknath Shinde with his 40 supporters, Ajit Pawar has led the second rebellion within a year by swearing-in with eight of his party colleagues.
After the rebellion in NCP, other parties have also become alert. The latest news is from Patna, the capital of Bihar. Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has called JDU MLAs to his residence. After this, the BJP has tightened up. Leader Sushil Modi has said that even Nitish Kumar is scared. This is the reason why those who never used to listen to the MLAs, are calling them at home.
Republican Party of India (Athawale) MP and Union Minister Ramdas Athawale said, a similar situation like Maharashtra may arise in Bihar soon as some JDU MLAs are angry with Nitish Kumar. Jayant Chaudhary may join the NDA in UP, as he is currently angry with Akhilesh Yadav. There is a possibility that differences may arise among the Samajwadi Party MLAs.
Meanwhile, Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut on Monday reiterated his claim that Nationalist Congress Party leader Ajit Pawar who was sworn in as the deputy chief minister of Maharashtra a day ago would soon replace Chief Minister Eknath Shinde as the 16 MLAs of Shinde faction who were part of the split in Shiv Sena almost a year ago are going to be "disqualified".
Sensing trouble after the rebellion in NCP, the opposition parties have increased their guard on its MLAs. The latest news is that the meeting of opposition parties to be held in Bengaluru on July 13 and 14 has been postponed. Now this meeting will be held after the monsoon session of Parliament. The Monsoon Session of Parliament will begin from 20 July and continue till 11 August.
Congress leader Jairam Ramesh in his tweet after the NCP’s Ajit Pawar and eight others joining Eknath Shinde led BJP government in Maharashtra called the party a washing machine "Yesterday when the BJP Washing Machine restarted in Mumbai with its ICE (Incometax, CBI, ED) detergent, BJP-inspired obituaries on Opposition unity were being planted. The obit writers will be disappointed."
"If anything the Mumbai operations have strengthened is the Opposition resolve," the Congress general secretary (Communications) said, tagging a picture of 'Modi Washing Powder' with the tagline 'saare daag chutkiyon mein dhule (removes all stains in a jiffy)'.