It is exactly one week since the Maha Yuti was re-elected with a massive mandate (230 out of 288 seats) by the people of Maharashtra, but the government is still to be formed. Sources said the intense power struggle within the Sangh Parivar is the primary reason for the delay. The RSS wants Devendra Fadnavis as the CM. However, the senior leadership of the BJP wants a non-Brahmin (preferably a Maratha) as the CM. For the past several months, the RSS and the BJP leadership have not been able to see eye to eye on several issues. A clear indication of the ongoing tussle was the open statement by BJP president J.P. Nadda that the BJP does not need the support of the RSS anymore. The delay in selecting a CM for Maharashtra is yet another indication of this intra-Sangh Parivar struggle.
Sanjay Shirsat, Shiv Sena MLA and close confidante of caretaker chief minister Eknath Shinde, told the FPJ on Saturday that “there is no problem from my party. It’s the internal problem of the BJP (that it is unable to handpick a man for the chief ministership).” Asked if the delay is because of the Shiv Sena insisting on key portfolios like home and revenue, Shirsat said, “Ministry formation is a subsequent matter. Let the BJP first decide whom it wants as the chief minister. It is still to take a call on the issue.” Shirsat later told a news channel that Shinde, who is currently sulking in his village in Satara, will make a “big announcement” on Sunday evening. He did not elaborate.
Soon after the results were declared on November 23, Shinde had staked his claim to the CM’s post even though the BJP had a standalone majority of 132 MLAs. His reasoning was that the crucial election was fought under his leadership and that he was the architect of the victory because of the hugely popular Ladki Bahin scheme. However, it is learnt that Union home minister Amit Shah shot down this idea since he was clear that a BJP man will be the CM. Shah asked Shinde to back down, following which a crestfallen Shinde held a press conference on Thursday at his Thane residence and meekly declared that he will abide by “whatever decision” the central leadership of the BJP takes.
It was widely assumed in political circles that since Shinde has opted out of the race for the CM’s gaddi, it is only a matter of time before the BJP declared the name of Fadnavis. However, that has not happened. For some strange reason, two senior leaders of the BJP appear to be not in favor of Fadnavis. “The fact of Fadnavis being a Brahmin cannot be the reason since after the 2014 polls he was appointed as the CM and allowed to complete his full five-year term. Was not the party leadership in Delhi then aware that he was a Brahmin?” a source in the RSS asked.
A senior RSS activist said on condition of anonymity that the BJP leadership was being “over smart.” “They think that they are doing something great by not selecting Fadnavis. The fact is that there is absolutely no logic in its thinking. Fadnavis is the choice of the rank and file of the BJP. The leaders concerned should keep that in mind,” he added.
Fadnavis was the architect of the downfall of the Uddhav Thackeray government in June 2022. It was then widely expected by BJP cadres that he would be rewarded with the CM’s ship for pulling off a huge coup. But Fadnavis himself and the cadres were stunned when party president J.P. Nadda asked him to settle for deputy chief ministership and let Shinde take the reins as the CM. After initial resistance, Fadnavis took the setback in his stride and wholeheartedly worked for the success of the Maha Yuti. “If again he is given the short shrift, then it will have serious implications for the party.”
The names of two Maratha leaders of the BJP, Vinod Tawde and Murlidhar Mohol, were reportedly being considered for the top post. However, Mohol, who is close to Fadnavis, dismissed the speculation. As for Tawde, he does not have the political gravitas that Fadnavis does. What is worrying BJP cadres is that the delay in selecting the CM goes against the spirit of the assembly mandate. “If the start is itself so controversial, we do not know what will happen in the coming five years,” a senior BJP leader observed.
