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Liberal meltdown begins as Ajit Pawar joins hands with BJP to form government in Maharashtra

OpIndia Staff
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Liberal meltdown begins as Ajit Pawar joins hands with BJP to form government in Maharashtra

As a faction of NCP and the BJP pulled up a political coup in Maharashtra to form the government, the ‘neutral journalists’ and the ‘secular-liberals’ members of the Congress-backed ecosystem seems to have lost their last hope of keeping BJP out of power in Maharashtra.

With BJP ditching its former alliance partner Shiv Sena to join hands with a section of Congress ally NCP, the meltdown of the ecosystem has already begun.

Rajdeep Sardesai, the Michelangelo of Indian journalism, was the one who seemed too upset with Ajit Pawar-BJP alliance. For Rajdeep Sardesai, the newly formed alliance between Pawar and the BJP is a double blow as first of all, BJP has retained the power in Maharashtra. The second reason for Rajdeep’s agony is Congress losing out an opportunity to be in power in the state.

Taking to Twitter to vent out his frustration, Rajdeep Sardesai launched his attack on Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis, insinuated that Fadnavis’ reputation as an anti-corruption crusader was at stake after joining hands with Ajit Pawar, who is alleged to be involved in a scam.

Interestingly, Rajdeep had never mentioned or tweeted regarding the issue of corruption cases against Pawar, when NCP had hinted at forming an alliance with Shiv Sena and the Congress. As Pawar has now joined hands with the BJP, the scams allegedly committed by him seems to have resurfaced in the memories of Rajdeep Sardesai.


Rajdeep Sardesai did not stop there. He soon began to deliver moral science lectures for all the political parties of Maharashtra. Sardesai lectured that BJP should never again lecture on corruption again, while the Cong should not lecture on ‘secularism’ and the Sena should not sermonise on Hindutva. He added that he did not have any moral lectures for the Pawars and NCP, as there is only ideology in politics today – ‘Opportunism’.


Swati Chaturvedi, a troll masquerading as a ‘journalist’, who was till yesterday praising NCP supremo Sharad Pawar for his ‘masterstroke’ for keeping BJP out of power in Maharashtra and teaching a lesson to Amit Shah and PM Modi, on Saturday took a U-turn to blame Pawar for the failure of Shiv Sena-NCP and Congress alliance. She claimed that Pawar betrayed Thackeray and Congress to join hands with the BJP.


Nikhil Wagle, who claims to be a ‘journalist’, also suffered a massive meltdown after Ajit Pawar and BJP came together to form the Maharashtra government. Similar to Rajdeep Sardesai, Nikhil Wagle seems to be suffering from selective amnesia as he too has suddenly remembered that Ajit Pawar has been accused of involving in an irrigation scam.

Wagle questioned Devendra Fadnavis on how could he dump his ‘morality and anti-corruption’ plank to support Ajit Pawar.


Nikhil Wagle’s frustration was evident after he attacked Prime Minister Modi as he wished success for the new BJP-Pawar coalition government in Maharashtra


The best meltdown tweet day came from none other than Vir Sanghvi, who went all the way down to narrate a story to refer Sharad Pawar as ‘poison’.


Till last evening, speculations were rife that the Sena-NCP-Congress alliance formula for Maharashtra is ready and Uddhav Thackeray will be the CM. However, the early morning surprise seems to have shocked not just the political players, but the ‘secular-liberal’ media too. As if the frustration of seeing the BJP in power again was not enough, the developments have also exposed the media’s complete clueless-ness as opposed to earlier governments where even ministerial berths were decided by lobbying journalists.

An analysis of Maharashtra politics in the last few weeks through Sanjay Raut’s poetry

Sanghamitra
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An analysis of Maharashtra politics in the last few weeks through Sanjay Raut’s poetry

It is said that art and literature are the reflections of a society and its times. The last few days of Maharashtra’s chaotic political environment has been archived in media reports, TV debates, editorials, statements of political leaders and much more. But if one sits down and think about it, it was only Sanjay Raut’s poetry that has managed to capture all the events, ups, downs, mood swings and confusions of the ‘Maha-drama’.

Raut’s poetry may seem to many as crass Bollywood theatrics. But as the entire nation woke up and saw in the TV that Devendra Fadnavis has become the CM of Maharashtra and thought “What the f***, or other vernacular versions of the sentiment, it was a visibly agitated, shocked, broken and shaken Sanjay Raut, that captured the moment in all its poetic, dramatic glory.

Read: In a massive political coup, Devendra Fadnavis sworn in as Maharashtra CM, Ajit Pawar as the Deputy CM

While the entire media, political parties and the public were busy following the blurring developments of Maha politics, it was Raut’s poetry that saluted the emotions, hopes, dreams and dramas of the Shiv Sena flowing through his tweets.

When the election results were announced and Sena thought it would be the king. Raut had tweeted a tiger, depicted wearing a clock and smelling a lotus held in its ‘Panja’, an indication that Sena will now ‘play’ the three parties like a fiddle.


The BJP, however, had made it clear that it will not be blackmailed and will not cede the CM chair to a party that has got merely half the seats as compared to them. Raut had mocked the BJP’s ‘Saheb’ not to have such hubris because many ‘Sikandars’ have perished in the ocean of time. What brilliance of words.

Raut went on ‘sly-Shayaring’ for days, even weeks. He mocked the ‘Saheb’s ego, he derided his heartlessness and wrote down his pain like a jilted one-side lover would cry after the pretty girl had thrown his love letter in the trash can.

Sanjay Raut’s poetry

It is not that Raut sly-tweets only his poetry. Like a true poet, he also regards the works of others and quotes from them when necessary. To convey that the Sena is not doing mere theatrics but doing a favour on the people of Maharashtra by ditching their alliance partner in whose name they had sought votes, Raut had shared Hindi poet Dushyant Kumar’s lines.


While the popular perception is that Raut is heavily inspired by singer Altaf Raja and TV serials, Raut has attempted to dispel the perception. He has quoted Dishyant Kumar ji more than once.

तुम्हारे पांव के नीचे कोई ज़मीन नहीं कमाल है कि, फ़िर भी तुम्हें यक़ीन नहीं…..(There is no ground under your feet, but you just refuse to believe it), Raut had taken another dig quoting Dushyant Kumar Ji’s lines, probably at Devendra, or Sonia, or Sharad Pawar, whoever he was thinking to woo on that particular day.

Read: Uddhav’s dream shatters even as Sanjay Raut ends up as being the biggest joke

Since Sena had become determined to form a government, be it with ‘communal’ BJP or ‘Secular’ NCP-Congress, Raut had to keep the secularism well represented in his poetic endeavours too. Quoting just Hindu poets would have been a very communal and regressive thing to do. So Raut had quoted Wasim Barelvi too.


The Sena became so desperate to form the government and grab the CM’s post that it started facing criticism for it. After all, it had entered into a pre-poll alliance, after all, Balasaheb was a big critic of Sonia Gandhi and had shamed those who ‘fall at her feet’. After all. Sena was all about ‘Hindutva’ and here they were seen literally ‘begging’ Congress-NCP to help them get the CM chair. Poetry has the answer to all the dilemmas that the human heart suffers.

रास्ते की परवाह करूँगा तो मंजिल बुरा मान जाएगी………! (If I start caring about the paths taken, the destination will be disappointed), Raut had tweeted then.

The path to CM’s chair, like the ‘Ishq ka Darya,’ is full of thorns and burning ambers. Raut’s Sena was all prepared to sink or swim.

“लहरों से डर कर नौका पार नहीं होती, कोशीश करने वालों की कभी हार नही होती ।’ बच्चन. हम होंगे कामयाब.. जरूर होंगे…(You can’t reach the shores in your boat if you keep fearing the waves, efforts never lose), Raut had tweeted quoting from Bachchan.

Finally, Congress started kinda-sorta looking like coming on board, Uddhav had talked to Congress-NCP leaders. Had even tried to stake a claim and failed miserably as nobody came forward to help. On November 12, the state went under President’s rule as no party managed to stake a claim.

Sena was on a negotiations overdrive. Reports say that it had even agreed to drop the demand for a Bharat Ratna to Savarkar, and its ‘Hindu-image’, however flimsy that image was. Reports also claimed that Sena was ready to bring back the Muslim quota, that it had helped quash when it was in power with BJP.

However, as Raut’s poetry displayed, Shiv Sena was just determined to get that CM post.


Slowly, Sena started seeing the hope that ‘madam’ might agree finally and give the ‘Green’ signal for the post-poll Maha-alliance. Sena did not declare the joy, but poetry said it.


While agreeing for the Muslim quota, Raut probably remembered that he has to allocate a Muslim quota in his ‘sly-Shayaring’ too. After all, the mainstream media and madam’s journalists had already started their attempts to paint the Sena as ‘secular’.

“यारों नए मौसम ने ये एहसान किया है, याद मुझे दर्द पुराने नहीं आते “, Raut had quoted Bashir Badr. He had new friends and he did not need to remember the old pains. However, he had not clarified whether the pain he referred to was caused by the BJP not giving it any ‘bhav’ or the ‘health issue’ he had developed a few days ago.

But the BJP, the heartless lover in Raut’s poetry, was indeed brutal. It had been days, weeks of waiting, but the CM chair was still far, very far from Sena. No definite commitments were being made from the new friends and no one was asking Sena to take the CM chair. Raut’s lines again went the ‘Patthar Ke Sanam’-mode towards BJP’s ‘Saheb’.

तुम से पहले वो जो इक शख़्स यहाँ तख़्त-नशीं था उस को भी अपने ख़ुदा होने पे इतना ही यक़ीं था :- हबीब जालिब. These lines by Habib Zalib were shared by Raut on 18 November. They meant, “The man who sat on this throne before you, had the same disillusionment of being all-powerful.”

Raut has indeed gone through a massively poetic and emotional roller-coaster all these days. After touring the poetic universe searching perfectly framed lines of poets exactly matching his mood for the day, he had recently stumbled upon some lines by Atal Bihar Vajpayee. Thinking of pulling a super-stunt of tweeting irony in the form of a BJP leader’s lines to mock the BJP, Raut had shared Vajpayee’s lines to indicate Sena’s efforts to form the government without the BJP.


‘One Shayari-a-day keeps the CM’s chair away’, said nobody. However, Raut’s poetic journey in the turbulent times has provided some much necessary freshness to Twitter users who came up with their own lines, couplets and quotes to hail him.

Yesterday, the ignored one-sided lover had probably finally agreed that the pretty girl will never look at him anyway. His Shayari of the day as the Sena-NCP-Congress continued their meetings had displayed that the poor boy was trying to move on.


The ultimate, box-office breaking, Abbas-Mastan-level suspension was finally coming to an end. By yesterday evening, the newspapers had already announced that Uddhav Thackeray will be the CM. Raut’s pain, and poetic suffering, all that walking through the embers in the ‘Ishq ka Darya’ and all were coming to fruition. Early in the morning, Raut has sly-Shayari-ed the lines that will now be mocked mercilessly by the BJP’s heartless trolls.

Sanjay Raut

However, the old Bollywood of the poor hero being the winner, the sentiments bearing fruit and lovers (Sena and the CM chair in this case) being united has been trashed to history by merciless new movie makers. In the new scheme of things, it is the villain who wins, it is Thanos who gets the last laugh, it is the ‘Saheb’ who swiped in from the sky like Batman and took off with the Kursi.

Raut probably never even got time to look for an appropriate poem in his books. It was just three heart-broken words.

Sanjay Raut

The poet-lover’s poetry has been silenced. As Devendra Fadnavis took an oath with the support of Ajit Pawar as the deputy CM, a shell-shocked Raut was seen cursing,  slamming and pouring his heart out at the fresh betrayal. He called Ajit Pawar a back-stabber, a thief, a robber and many more names. For the BJP, he did not even have words hurtful enough.

Raut is still tweeting, but they are only dry statements. The poetry is gone. And with the silencing of Raut’s poetry, Maharashtra politics now looks like just a boring documentary movie. The melodrama, the jingles, songs and the item numbers have all been destroyed by ‘Saheb’.

‘Party and family split’: Whatsapp status of Supriya Sule reveals split within NCP after alliance with BJP

OpIndia Staff
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‘Party and family split’: Whatsapp status of Supriya Sule reveals split within NCP after alliance with BJP

On Saturday, following the decision of NCP’s Ajit Pawar to join hands with the BJP to form a government in Maharashtra, Sharad Pawar’s daughter and senior NCP leader Supriya Sule has confirmed that the Nationalist Congress Party has split in the middle of a political war.

According to the ANI, Supriya Sule has put up a story on Whatsapp which stated, ‘Party and family split’ indicating that there has been a rebellion within the party after Ajit Pawar joined hands with the BJP.

Supriya Sule’s Whatsapp status also reveals that a difference of opinion may have come between NCP supremo Sharad Pawar and his nephew Ajit Pawar on the issue of forming a government with the BJP. The politics of Maharashtra has not even left the family of the NCP supremo Sharad Pawar untouched.


Reportedly, Ajit Pawar, the nephew of Sharad Pawar is said to have bypassed his uncle Sharad Pawar to ally with the BJP. However, several other reports also quote sources to state that Sharad Pawar was in fact kept in the loop all along. Reportedly, Ajit Pawar enjoys the support of at least 35 lawmakers out of the 54 MLAs.

Meanwhile, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Nawab Malik has said that the letter of support that is being used is wrong. “We had taken signatures from MLAs for attendance, it was misused as a basis for the oath,” said Malik.

Read: Shiv Sena shocked: Sanjay Raut calls Ajit Pawar ‘backstabber’, says ‘woh zindagi bhar tadapte rahenge’

Reports suggest that Ajit Pawar collected the signatures of all the NCP MLAs on the party’s letter of support, which was later presented to prove NCP’s support to the BJP.

Following the massive political coup by the BJP, Sharad Pawar had stated that he was unaware of the developments. Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar seems to be equally miffed with his nephew Ajit’s decision to join hands with the Bharatiya Janata Party.

NCP chief Sharad Pawar on Saturday tweeted that Ajit Pawar’s decision to support the BJP was his own and not that of the party. “We place on record that we do not support or endorse this decision of his,” said Sharad Pawar.

Read: Did BJP manage to break NCP? Sharad Pawar says the alliance with BJP was Ajit Pawar’s ‘personal decision’. Read details

“I came to know at 7 am today about Ajit Pawar. I did not know before that. I will hold a press conference at some time. Uddhav too will address the media. I will speak elaborately then,” the NCP chief said, clarifying that it was not his decision.

NCP chief Sharad Pawar and Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray have planned to address a joint press conference at 12.30 pm today.

Maharashtra: Rajdeep Sardesai is accused of being frustrated, he displays frustration to prove he is not frustrated

OpIndia Staff
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Maharashtra: Rajdeep Sardesai is accused of being frustrated, he displays frustration to prove he is not frustrated

Maharashtra politics just catapulted itself to national politics with a night-long coup that resulted in Devendra Fadnavis being sworn in as the Chief Minister of Maharashtra and Ajit Pawar being sworn in as the Deputy Chief Minister. More than Shiv Sena and Congress, who were strung along like dead weight, or Sharad Pawar who has distanced himself from this alliance in Maharashtra, the Lutyens media, like Rajdeep Sardesai, seem to be in a meltdown with overwhelming grief.

Read: In a massive political coup, Devendra Fadnavis sworn in as Maharashtra CM, Ajit Pawar as the Deputy CM

While Rajdeep Sardesai had no problem with the unholy alliance between Shiv Sena, Congress and NCP, after Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar joined forces, Rajdeep was not too happy.


The very people who were busy hailing NCP and Congress, and at the same time, secularising Shiv Sena, were now pontificating on how BJP should now never pontificate on corruption.


Rajdeep also lashed out at NCP. He said that the only ideology in politics is apparently opportunism. Of course, the alliance between Shiv Sena, Congress and NCP would not have been opportunism.

After this epic meltdown after Maharashtra developments, Rajdeep Sardesai was accused of being frustrated, seemingly, rightly so. Dr Vijay Chauthaiwale, who is the in-charge of Foreign Affairs Dept, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) said that Rajdeep Sardesai’s frustration was quite evident. He said that the reason for Sardesai’s frustration comes from firstly being on-screen in the morning, and then because Devendra Fadnavis has been sworn in as the Chief Minister.

Read: Shiv Sena shocked: Sanjay Raut calls Ajit Pawar ‘backstabber’, says ‘woh zindagi bhar tadapte rahenge’

Rajdeep Sardesai would not stand for being accused of being frustrated. Hence, to prove that he is not frustrated, he displayed his frustration further.

Tweet exchange between Rajdeep Sardesai and Vijay Chauthaiwala

To Vijay Chauthaiwale’s tweet, Rajdeep Sardesai responded, “Please don’t be an idiot sir. And I don’t like using such words to a friend”.

Vijay Chauthaiwale then pointed out that this was only another display of frustration.


Probably realising that he is making a fool of himself, Rajdeep Sardesai tried to backtrack by saying that he is sure Devendra Fadnavis will be a good Chief Minister for Maharashtra.


Clearly, there seems to be some sort of confusion in the Lutyens rank how one is supposed to react to this massive turn of events in Maharashtra. After they tried so hard to paint the Shiv Sena, Congress and NCP alliance in gold, it is difficult to paint the BJP-Ajit Pawar alliance as unholy. It is also difficult to now decide whether NCP has now become “communal” or BJP has become “Secular”. Of course, if they can’t decide on the exact narrative to be furthered, they can always say that “democracy has died a painful death”.

With Devendra Fadnavis being sworn in as CM of Maharashtra, is Shiv Sena on the path to a party split?

OpIndia Staff
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With Devendra Fadnavis being sworn in as CM of Maharashtra, is Shiv Sena on the path to a party split?

In a night coup, after President Rule in Maharashtra was revoked at 5:47 AM on Saturday morning, Devendra Fadnavis was sworn in as the Chief Minister and Ajit Pawar of NCP was sworn in as the Deputy CM. Considering the Shiv Sena, NCP and Congress alliance was in the news till yesterday, this has come as a shocker to all political pundits who had not foreseen this move by a mile.

Sharad Pawar has, however, come out to distance himself from the alliance. He has said that this decision was a personal decision of Ajit Pawar and did not have official NCP sanction.

Read: Did BJP manage to break NCP? Sharad Pawar says the alliance with BJP was Ajit Pawar’s ‘personal decision’. Read details

BJP has put the blame squarely on Sanjay Raut’s shoulder. “Verbal diarrhoea will be the right phrase to use for him. Even many Shiv Sena MLAs are frustrated with him and they may also think of going with us”, said Girish Mahajan of BJP about Sanjay Raut.

While Sanjay Raut was the motormouth making several statements disparaging BJP, all was not well in the party. Several MLAs were unhappy with their conduct. Shiv Sena had essentially broken their alliance with the BJP post-Maharashtra Assembly Elections since it was adamant on getting the Chief Minister’s position and BJP, being the larger party with more seats, had refused to entertain the tantrums. A section of MLAs were unhappy that Uddhav Thackeray is sacrificing party interests at the altar of his love for his son.

Read: Shiv Sena shocked: Sanjay Raut calls Ajit Pawar ‘backstabber’, says ‘woh zindagi bhar tadapte rahenge’

Uddhav Thackeray was essentially hankering for the position of the Chief Minister for his son Aditya Thackeray. It is, of course, a separate matter that even his love for his son gave way to love of power and he had later accepted that he himself would become the Chief Minister.

While the father-son duo was hankering for power, the discontent brewing in the party was summarily brushed under the rug.

One recalls that a fight had erupted between Shiv Sena elected MLAs as they engaged in abusive arguments over Uddhav Thackeray’s insistence on the post of Chief Minister of Maharashtra. Shiv Sena MLA Aaditya Thackeray had to rush to the hotel following a revolt by Sena MLAs. Shiv Sena MLAs were being kept at The Retreat Hotel in Mumbai’s Malad due to the fear of poaching. The fight between Shiv Sena MLAs had taken place at the resort itself.

Read: Uddhav’s dream shatters even as Sanjay Raut ends up as being the biggest joke

It is being reported through sources now after Devendra Fadnavis has been sworn in as the Chief Minister, that up to 21 Shiv Sena MLAs might just break away from the Shiv Sena and join the BJP-Ajit Pawar government.

With such discontent brewing in the party for long, one only wonders how long it would be before the Shiv Sena breaks up with rebels unhappy with the handling of the situation by Uddhav Thackeray.

With the Governor giving BJP time till 30th November to prove their numbers in the state, the game seems to have just begun.

Maharashtra politics takes Internet by a storm as BJP joins hands with NCP to form government in the state

OpIndia Staff
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Maharashtra politics takes Internet by a storm as BJP joins hands with NCP to form government in the state

In a massive political coup, early this morning before anyone could figure out what happened, BJP’s Devendra Fadnavis swore in as Maharashtra Chief Minister and NCP’s Ajit Pawar swore in as Deputy Chief Minister. Last night it was declared that Shiv Sena Chief Uddhav Thackeray will be the next Maharashtra Chief Minister after a month long political upheaval in the state.

However, as tables turned, the development took the Internet by storm as twitterati broke into jokes and memes over the dance of democracy.


Sanjay Raut the Rahul Gandhi of Indian Politics! Wonder who is it more insulting for.


Clearly, Bollywood was winning.


Ouch!


BJP President Amit Shah is clearly having the last laugh.


Read: Uddhav’s dream shatters even as Sanjay Raut ends up as being the biggest joke


Because, when you play the game of thrones…

 

Shiv Sena shocked: Sanjay Raut calls Ajit Pawar ‘backstabber’, says ‘woh zindagi bhar tadapte rahenge’

OpIndia Staff
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Shiv Sena shocked: Sanjay Raut calls Ajit Pawar ‘backstabber’, says ‘woh zindagi bhar tadapte rahenge’

After the sudden twist in Maharashtra politics that saw Devendra Fadnavis swearing-in as the CM for the second time with Ajit Pawar as his deputy, a visibly shell-shocked Sanjay Raut spoke to the press where he called Ajit Pawar a ‘backstabber’.

Raut stated that Ajit Pawar was sitting with them till 9 PM yesterday. He stated that Pawar was participating in all the discussions in the meeting between NCP, Sena and Congress. He added that Pawar had ‘the look of a thief’ and he had switched off his phone.


Raut also blamed the BJP for ‘misusing’ the Raj Bhavan. He asked why did the government not take oath in the day? Why did they do it in the darkness? However, he seemed to have missed the fact that Fadnavis has taken oath at 7.30 in the morning.

Raut further added that the BJP and Ajit Pawar have ‘betrayed’ the people of Maharashtra and have smeared the name of Shivaji Maharaj. He added that the people of Maharashtra will never forgive them. He called the government formation ‘Andhere main Paap'(sin committed in darkness). He also equated Fadnavis’ oath-taking as thievery and robbery.

Read: Did BJP manage to break NCP? Sharad Pawar says the alliance with BJP was Ajit Pawar’s ‘personal decision’. Read details

Sena also claimed that NCP chief Sharad Pawar had nothing to do with Ajit Pawar’s decision. Raut claimed that Udhdhav Thackeray and Sharad Pawar have already spoken twice over the phone and they might address a joint press conference later in the day.

Raut also cursed Ajit Pawar a lot. After calling him a thief, and backstabber, he added that Ajit Pawar has betrayed everyone and ‘Woh zindagi bhar tadapte rahenge’ (he will have lifelong suffering).

It is notable here that yesterday, the Sena-NCP and the Congress had held meetings and there were discussions over the Common minimum Programme. From media reports, it was apparent that Sena will finally get the CM chair for which it had left the pre-poll alliance with BJP. Media reports had named Uddhav Thackeray as the next Maharashtra CM.

There were also reports of a tussle between the three parties over ministerial berths and key posts, such as assembly speaker.

It is being reported that Ajit Pawar has broken away from the NCP with 22 MLAs to join Fadnavis. Sharad Pawar has tweeted saying that Ajit’s decision was his own.

BJP’s Chandrakant Patil has stated that Sanjay Raut should at least now keep silent. He added that Raut has ‘ruined’ the Shiv Sena.

President Rule revoked at 5.47 AM, Devendra Fadnavis, Ajit Pawar to prove majority by 30th November

OpIndia Staff
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President Rule revoked at 5.47 AM, Devendra Fadnavis, Ajit Pawar to prove majority by 30th November

In a massive political coup, Ajit Pawar and BJP joined hands together to form the government in Maharashtra with Devendra Fadnavis becoming the Chief Minister of the state. NCP leader Ajit Pawar, the nephew of party chief Sharad Pawar took oath as the deputy CM of the state. The BJP-NCP government took charge in Maharashtra on Saturday after President Rule, imposed in the state a fortnight ago, was revoked at 5.47 am.

According to a Home Ministry notification, President Ram Nath Kovind issued the proclamation for revocation of President Rule in Maharashtra this morning. The gazette notification to this effect was issued by Union Home Secretary Ajay Kumar Bhalla at 5.47 AM.

Notification revoking President’s rule in Maharashtra/ Image Source: ANI

After taking the oath, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis stated that the BJP wanted to give a stable government to the people of Maharashtra, adding that his party’s ally Shiv Sena “did not follow people’s mandate”.

Read: Uddhav’s dream shatters even as Sanjay Raut ends up as being the biggest joke

“I thank the NCP coming in support to form this government. We all know that there was the President’s rule for the last few days… Shiv Sena did not follow the mandate,” he said.

Till yesterday, it was being reported that NCP, Congress and the Shiv Sena were close to forming a government in the state. There were also reports that Shiv Sena-NCP and Congress all have agreed to make Uddhav Thackeray as the Chief Minister of the state.

Sharad Pawar has distanced himself from this alliance. He has said that this was Ajit Pawar’s personal decision to ally with BJP and that this decision did not have NCP’s sanction.

Read: Did BJP manage to break NCP? Sharad Pawar says the alliance with BJP was Ajit Pawar’s ‘personal decision’. Read details

According to reports, the Governor has given Ajit Pawar and BJP time till 30th November to prove their majority.

The state of Maharashtra had plunged into a political crisis after Shiv Sena broke its three-decade-long ties with the BJP after a deadlock appeared between the allies over seat-sharing formula.

The BJP and Sena, which fought the Assembly polls in the alliance, had secured a comfortable majority by winning 105 and 56 seats, respectively, in the 288-member Assembly. The Congress and the NCP, pre-poll allies, won 44 and 54 seats, respectively.

Uddhav’s dream shatters even as Sanjay Raut ends up as being the biggest joke

Editorial Desk
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Uddhav’s dream shatters even as Sanjay Raut ends up as being the biggest joke

Last night when we slept, we knew Uddhav Thackeray, son of Shiv Sena founder Bal Thackeray, will become the first Thackeray chief minister of Maharashtra, despite never having contested mainstream elections. Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut woke up this morning and dished out a couplet as he has been since his little health scare where he lodged himself in a hospital as Maharashtra government formation discussions reached a new abyss.


At 7 AM, all confident of having his bossman Uddhav Thackeray as Maharashtra Chief Minister and having the satisfaction of fulfilling his promise of ‘Shiv Sena CM’, Raut tweeted how history has been written by the one on whom the world laughs at.

It was perhaps a dig at himself because he was mocked at for his tall claims like how Shiv Sena has backing of 170 MLAs to form the government. Raut thought he is finally victorious as Maharashtra will see a Shiv Sena CM with Uddhav forming the government.

Except, when we woke up, before anyone could figure out what is happening, Devendra Fadnavis swore in as Chief Minister of Maharashtra. NCP’s Ajit Pawar had sworn in as Deputy Chief Minister. NCP and BJP forged an alliance overnight even as Shiv Sena kept dreaming of Uddhav as Chief Minister. Takes one back to 2014 Maharashtra elections when BJP had emerged as the single largest party but was short of clear majority. NCP’s Sharad Pawar had offered to provide outside support to the BJP to form the minority government.

Read: Shiv Sena will not join hands with BJP even it offers Indra’s throne: Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut

In 2014 the BJP, riding on the popularity of PM Narendra Modi, emerged as the single-largest party with 122 seats but was still slightly behind the 145-mark required for staking a claim at the government. Shiv Sena, being its usual self, with 63 seats was holding the BJP to ransom that time also, trying to broker a “respectable deal” before extending its support. The NCP had then won on 41 seats while the Congress emerged victorious on 42 seats. Back in 2014, the BJP and Shiv Sena had not forged a pre-poll alliance. Shiv Sena had tried power game even back then to cut a better deal for itself.

With the coalition between the two parties uncertain, the NCP chief Sharad Pawar then declared that he would provide an outside support to the 122-member BJP and abstain from future trust vote in the Assembly. The BJP had then claimed to have the support of 10 independent MLAs. NCP MLAs abstaining from the assembly would have brought the count down from 288 to 247 and the BJP would have had the necessary numbers to form a minority government.

Read: Shiv Sena’s Sanjay Raut invokes fictional Dawood in current Maharashtra crisis

Pawar had reasoned that to avoid the need to have fresh elections, he and his party took a “conscious and collective decision” of supporting the minority government of the BJP. However, he ensured that the party would play the role of an effective opposition.

The NCP’s offer was regarded as “mega-clout” for the BJP to negotiate the modalities of an alliance with the Shiv Sena which was under tremendous pressure realising its rapidly shrinking leverage over the BJP. Amit Shah too did not turn down NCP’s offer stating that the party’s parliamentary board, PM Modi would discuss the options. Finally, the uncertainty ended with the Shiv Sena and the BJP coming together to form an alliance and stake a claim at the government.

This time, stretching his luck too far, Shiv Sena tried to play bigger games. They insisted on a 50-50 formula where Shiv Sena and BJP will have chief minister for 2.5 years each. Raut kept claiming how it was a pre-poll condition for alliance and accused BJP of not keeping its part of the bargain. The BJP maintained there was no such formula.

Read: A tale of two Sanjays: The Maharashtra conundrum

The BJP later said that it does not have enough numbers to form government and the Maharashtra Governor invited second largest party Shiv Sena to form government. Despite Raut’s 170 MLAs supporting Shiv Sena claims, the party could not stake claim to form government as neither NCP nor Congress sent letter of support to the party. Later NCP was invited to form government. Since even NCP did not have requisite numbers, the President’s rule was imposed. The President’s rule ended at 5:47 AM today and by 8 AM, Fadnavis swore in as Chief Minister of Maharashtra.

This morning Shiv Sena’s Sanjay Raut was ecstatic that he is about to create history by getting a first Thackeray Chief Minister. However, as the day progresses, it is getting clearer that more than creating history, Shiv Sena is on the path of becoming history.

Did BJP manage to break NCP? Sharad Pawar says the alliance with BJP was Ajit Pawar’s ‘personal decision’. Read details

OpIndia Staff
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Did BJP manage to break NCP? Sharad Pawar says the alliance with BJP was Ajit Pawar’s ‘personal decision’. Read details

In a massive shocker, in an overnight coup, BJP and NCP formed an alliance in the state of Maharashtra. While people slept, Devendra Fadnavis was sworn in as the Chief Minister and Ajit Pawar was sworn in as the Deputy CM. Until yesterday, talks were on between Uddhav Thackeray led Shiv Sena, Sharad Pawar led NCP and Sonia Gandhi led Congress for alliance formation and the impression was that the three parties were close to deciding on a Common Minimum Program.

The President’s Rule in Maharashtra was removed early morning at 5:47 AM on Saturday and by around 8 AM, Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar were sworn in.

Read: In a massive political coup, Devendra Fadnavis sworn in as Maharashtra CM, Ajit Pawar as the Deputy CM

Now it seems that BJP has managed to break NCP. Sharad Pawar has now tweeted that this is Ajit Pawar’s personal decision and this alliance did not have NCP’s sanction.


Sharad Pawar has tweeted that NCP is placing on record that the party did not support endorse Ajit Pawar’s decision to form an alliance with BJP.

Interestingly, 3 days ago, a tweet from a lesser-known news handle had tweeted that Ajit Pawar was ready to split from NCP with 35 MLAs.

Tweet by Katta News

Katta News had tweeted on 20th November 2019 that Sharad Pawar was actually meeting with Prime Minister Modi to convince him not to entertain Ajit Pawar who was ready to split from the party.

Now, Sharad Pawar has come out in the open to denounce the alliance between Ajit Pawar and BJP.

Rumours are strike that Sharad Pawar has also spoken to Uddhav Thackeray to tell him that this was not his decision and while he was ready to make Uddhav Thackeray the Chief Minister, Ajit Pawar has broken the party in two. Reportedly, Sharad Pawar has also called for a meeting of NCP MLAs to discuss the future course for NCP.

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