Maharashtra political crisis: In a last-ball thriller, BJP chooses Eknath Shinde for top job

When it looked almost certain that the BJPrsquos Devendra Fadnavis would lead the new Maharashtra government the single largest party in the state came up with a dramatic twist by choosing Shiv Sena rebel leader Eknath Shinde as the chief minister The announcement came on Thursday by Fadnavis himself who first said he would stay away from the Cabinet but the BJP high command including PM Narendra Modi persuaded him to be Shindersquos deputyFadnavis and Shinde met Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari in the afternoon after the Sena rebel travelled from Goa to Mumbai If Shindersquos coup was no less dramatic the developments that unfolded in the second half of the day appeared like a chapter from an Agatha Christie suspense thrillerAs Fadnavis humbly refused to be a part of the government BJPrsquos national president JP Nadda said in Delhi that the partyrsquos Central Committee had asked Fadnavis to be in as the deputy chief minister ldquoFadnavis has shown a big heart and character of a BJP worker who is not greedy for powerrdquo he said ldquoIt is my personal request as well as the partyrsquos directive that he take charge of the DyCMrsquos post in the interest of the people of Maharashtrardquo said Nadda Sources said the PM called Fadnavis twiceDevendra Fadnavis gives a thumbs up to Shinde after making the surprise announcement on Thursday PicSayyed Sameer AbediImmediately after Naddarsquos statement home minister Amit Shah who has played an important role in Shindersquos coup tweeted that Fadnavis had agreed to be the DyCM Sources said Fadnavis wanted to lead the state unit but the high command disagreed ldquoI follow the partyrsquos directives as a sincere worker To me the partyrsquos directive is above everythingrdquo said Fadnavis in a social media statement shortly after agreeing to be the deputy chief ministerPM Modi upped Fadnavisrsquos morale by acknowledging his leadership ldquoCongratulations to Shri Dev_Fadnavis Ji on taking oath as Maharashtra Deputy CM He is an inspiration for every BJP Karyakarta His experience and expertise will be an asset for the Government I am certain he will further strengthen Maharashtrarsquos growth trajectoryrdquo he tweeted a minute after congratulating ShindeFadnavis was the CM between 2014 and 2019 He had made a shortlived government in 2019 with NCP rebel Ajit Pawar The Uddhav Thackerayled Maha Vikas Aghadi government was formed later which fell on Wednesday due to a rebellion in the SenaEknath Shinde gets ready to take oath as the chief minister of Maharashtra at Raj Bhavan on Thursday PicAshish RajeFormer urban development minister Shinde and exCM Fadnavis were sworn in the evening in the newly built Darbar Hall at Raj Bhavan that was recently inaugurated by PM Modi Arrangements had to be altered at the last minute to accommodate Fadnavis on the deckWhile reading the oath of secrecy and office Shinde the 30th CM invoked Sena founder the late Balasaheb Thackeray and his mentor the late Anand Dighe Fadnavis took oath in the name of God The council of ministers comprising the BJP the Shinde Sena and others will be sworn in later The stakeholders will decide on the team in the days to come Promise delivered FadnavisEarlier in the day twotime CM Fadnavis said his party had promised to give an alternative government whenever the MVA fell ldquoWe didnrsquot want to enforce midterm pollsrdquo he said adding that Uddhav Thackeray continued to remain with the Congress and NCP despite a majority of MLAs being against the alliance ldquoWe are not after power but want to be with the people who follow the late Balasaheb Thackerayrsquos Hindutva We will ensure to undo what has happened in the MVA government which was highly corrupt and inactive Under Shindersquos leadership all stalled projects like Metro will get momentum and policy decisions to their logical end be it the OBC leadership Maratha reservation Though I will not be in the Cabinet it will also be my responsibility to support the government and its good workrdquoI didnrsquot expect it ShindeShinde said he was overwhelmed by the magnanimity of the single largest party and Fadnavis who could have demanded the CMrsquos office ldquoI didnrsquot expect it but the BJP has chosen me a small Sainik of Balasaheb to lead the state I thank PM Narendra Modi ji Amit Shah and Fadnavis in particular who showed a large heartrdquoThe new CM said it was a matter of introspection for the Sena when about 50 MLAs broke the ranks ldquoAll our MLAs faced serious problems in their constituencies Our agenda will be of development We have taken an ideological position that we will take forwardhelliprdquoShinde said his government will be powerful and deliver as promised ldquoAs of now we have so many MLAs from the BJP Sena his group independents and small parties More will join us soonrdquo he said assuring to live up to expectations After taking oath Shinde reiterated the agenda of development and justice for all sections of society ldquoNow I also have Fadnavis ji with me We all together will achieve all our goalsrdquo Bihar patternLike Bihar the BJP chose to support a group much smaller than its strength in the Assembly The Nitish KumarBJP alliance has seen many ups and downs ever since However the parallels between the two states are not exactly the same Here the BJP has been fighting a regional party that shares the same ideology which posed a challenge by collaborating with the parties of opposite ideologyUddhav Thackerayrsquos Sena which won a majority mandate in a prepoll pact with the BJP the Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party came together with the only purpose of keeping the BJP away from power in 2019 The Shinde group says the alliance damaged the Sena whereas the other two were able to rise from the ashes at the cost of its ally whose boss was made a CM who ultimately fell to the unrest within his own rank