Politics, as once said, is the art of the possible, even if it seems impossible. Take Maharashtra, a state that is huge on the political map of India for election funding. Following the resignation of Uddhav Thackeray as chief minister in the wake of the Shiv Sena revolt, former chief minister of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Devendra Fadnavis, which has the largest number of seats in the assembly, was widely expected to take over at the helm. Turns out it wouldn’t be him. Instead, Eknath Shinde, who led the Shiv Sena rebels, is to head a new government formed with the support of the BJP.
Fadnavis will be the deputy CM. The sacrifice in favor of a smaller ally is being projected as a sign of the wishes of late Shiv Sena chief Balasaheb Thackeray and the ideological harmony between the two Hindutva-aligned forces. But generosity is always rare in politics. By raising the one-time autorickshaw driver Shinde, the BJP can hope to broaden its appeal and remove charges of conspiracy to make the Thackeray regime a secret power grab. The dynamics of the new ruling coalition depends on whether Shinde’s Shiv Sena faction is gradually captured by the BJP on its support base.