- Thursday, February 27, 2025
By: Shubham Ghosh
WHILE the political drama in the western Indian state of Maharashtra refuses to die down, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the single-largest party in the state assembly but which is in the opposition, thanks to its traditional ally Shiv Sena dumping it to go with the Nationalist Congress Party and Indian National Congress, has chosen to watch things closely.
The implosion in the Sena has put the existence of the state’s MVA (Maha Vikas Aghadi or Maharashtra Development Front) government under question but the BJP, which is the only party with more than 100 seats in the 287-member assembly, said it is following the political developments closely and continues in a ‘wait and watch’ mode.
Senior party leader and former state minister Sudhir Mungantiwar said the issue came up in the BJP’s state core committee meeting on Monday (27) night and the party’s top leadership discussed all aspects in detail, the Pune Mirror news website reported.
“So far we have not got any proposal from anybody in this matter… Whenever it is received, we shall consider it and call another core committee meeting if needed,” Mungantiwar said, reiterating the BJP’s known stance.
He added that the MVA government of Shiv Sena-NCP-Congress should brainstorm and decide whether it still commands the majority or has been reduced to a minority.
While speculation is rife that the Sena rebels are in talks with the BJP and could join hands with prime minister Narendra Modi’s party to form a new government in Maharashtra, Sena leader Anil Desai dismissed it saying “at least 20 MLAs” are in touch with the parent party (Shiv Sena) and have assured full support to the MVA.
State minister Aaditya Thackeray and Sena chief spokesperson Sanjay Raut, a parliamentarian, have made similar claims in the past couple of days.
The Sena rebels’ spokesperson Deepak Kesarkar rubbished the Sena leaders’ claims saying they were lies and deceptive which intended to defame the supporters of Eknath Shinde, the leader of the rebels who are currently camping in Guwahati in the north-eastern state of Assam.
“If they are so confident that these 20 MLAs are on their side, then why don’t they call them back to Mumbai… What’s stopping them? They (Shiv Sena) are simply making false and misleading statements,” Kesarkar was quoted as saying by the news website.
The Shinde faction has claimed that it has the support of 39 Sena MLAs and 11 independents or smaller parties and is confident of bringing a change to the current power equation in Maharashtra, one of India’s most flourishing states.
