Former Maharashtra Chief Minister and BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis being served sweets by state BJP President Chandrakant Patil during a party meeting at the Taj President Hotel in Mumbai on Wednesday. (Photo/PTI)
Separating Shiv Sena from Thackeray, the saffron party would fulfill Balasaheb Thackeray’s dream, making an ordinary Shiv Sainik the chief minister, which even his sons could not guarantee.
Call it a surprise or a masterstroke, the BJP has changed the optics game in Maharashtra with its decision to not elevate rebel Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shinde as chief minister but Devendra Fadnavis.
With its subtle support to the Shinde camp – whether in Mumbai where the saffron party said it would “wait and see” or Guwahati where rebel MLAs were hiding while the struggle for the chief minister’s crown continued – the BJP has made it clear that The reason for this coup was not greed for power.
This became particularly important in the context of Fadnavis’ old statement “Me punha yen” (I will be back again) on social media. The 2019 statement dates back to a time when Fadnavis was forced to make an unofficial exit by Ajit Pawar, who saw his government last just 80 hours before Uddhav Thackeray took over as chief minister.
With the rise of Shinde, the BJP will say that it gave up power for the sake of ‘Hindutva’. Separating Shiv Sena from Thackeray, the saffron party will claim an ordinary Shiv Sainik to become the chief minister to fulfill Balasaheb Thackeray’s dream, which even his son could not guarantee. Thus, the party would project itself as the “true successor” to the Hindutva ideology of the Sena.
The move has also made it difficult for Uddhav Thackeray to bring his clan together, given that the outgoing chief minister faced rebellion “from his own side”.
A surprising twist in the Maharashtra saga will now see another element, with Fadnavis accepting the BJP’s “instruction” to join the government after initially refusing the post. This comes after BJP chief JP Nadda “personally requested” that Fadnavis be made deputy chief minister in the Shinde government.
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