To be in power in a vast state like Maharashtra is no easy feat. Moreover, if it is a volatile coalition with no well laid down common minimum program, it is an even tougher job. But, the new chief minister of Maharashtra doesn’t seem to care about that.

At the crack of dawn, the President’s rule in Maharashtra is removed and Devendra Fadanvis lays his claim to the throne Maharashtra. And Ajit Pawar took oath as the deputy chief minister. So, what happened exactly? The Bharatiya Janata Party was approached by the NCP to form the government together. The BJP was reminded of a similar incident that took place in Karnataka as they are just freshly out of that mess. The BJP was still the single largest party in Maharashtra, thus making the mandate of the public very clear. The Shiv Sena backing out post elections left limited choices for the BJP.

 

Ajit Pawar played a gamble to gain a foothold in politics as the same government in both Centre and state would have ensured better coordination. It is the norm of Indian politics. It is the son or daughter of the leader who gets preference, not the worthy one. We have seen this with Mulayam Singh Yadav and now again with Sharad Pawar.  It was a calculated gambit for Ajit Pawar and he had nothing to lose here.

Shiv Sena was a party who used to believe in the Hindutva ideology but now is a part of a coalition whose first demand is the appeasement of minorities. Just to form the government and to be the chief minister, Uddhav decided to walk down the fake secularism route instead of following the path laid down by Babasaheb. What is yet to be seen, is how this unstable coalition functions.

About Abhinav Khare

Abhinav Khare is the CEO of Asianet News Network and also the host of a daily show named Deep Dive with AK. He has a lifetime collection of books and gadgets and has already pinged more than hundred cities around the globe. 

He is a tech entrepreneur, who is passionate about policy, technology, economy and philosophy from ancient India. He earned an MS Engineering from the ETH Zurich and an MBA Finance from the London Business School.