The apex court handed out a historic decision as it ordered to carry out floor test for Maharashtra government formation on November 27. The decision was pronounced by a three-judge bench comprising of Justices NV Ramana, Ashok Bhushan and Sanjiv Khanna and even directed that the floor test will be conducted through the open ballot and not in secret.
The floor test will be telecasted live. In the meantime, as Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis resigned from his post on Tuesday, just four days after he swore as CM, the road to becoming Maharashtra Chief Minister has been set clear for Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray.
Here are five things that the Thackeray-led government will be focusing on:
A Coalition Government is a tricky situation for the indulged political parties and therefore, it would be interesting to see how the right-leaning party, Shiv Sena functions with Congress and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP). More importantly, the three parties must find a solution to provide the people of Maharashtra with a stable government.
Alongside, the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) consisting NCP, Shiv Sena, and Congress, will also be facing scathing attacks from the opposition party, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
After the Maharashtra Assembly Elections 2019’s results were announced, people talked about #AareyKaShraap as the incumbent BJP failed to regain the majority in Maharashtra. The Aarey Forest Row had tarnished BJP’s image just before the Assembly Elections as more than 2,000 trees were chopped down overnight.
On the other hand, BJP ally, Shiv Sena was vocal about the entire row and its youth wing leader, Aditya Thackeray came down heavily on the Devendra Fadnavis-led government on Twitter.
Since Shiv Sena is now in power, it remains to be seen whether the angst poured on social media witnesses any action or goes on to become another rant ending as a political gimmick.
Before the Assembly Elections 2019, Shiv Sena’s manifesto had promised of a ten-rupee meal. "One thousand bhojanalaya will be set up across Maharashtra. They will provide a nutritious meal at Rs 10. These centralised kitchens in every district will be managed and operated by women," Aditya Thackeray had said during the release of the manifesto.
So will the current government be able to provide its promised ₹10 meal? Only time will tell.
In one of his first major decisions during his four-day-long tenure, former Chief Minister Fadnavis cleared ₹5,380 crore from the Maharashtra Contingency Fund as a relief for farmers affected by the unseasonal rains.
So far, nearly one crore farmers have been affected by crop damage over 87 lakh hectare area in the past few months in Vidarbha and Marathwada.
Therefore, the Uddhav Thackeray-led MVA will have to ensure that the allotted funds are disbursed to the farmers in need.
It is expected that Sena may push for its dream project which is stuck in legal hurdles and opposed by citizens over environmental concerns.
While on one hand, Shiv Sena has advocated the preservation of nature by voicing their opinion about the Aarey Issue, it would be interesting to see how would they go forward with the ambitious Coastal Road Project.
In the meantime, Shiv Sena has named Eknath Shinde as its legislature party chief and the Nationalist Congress Party has appointed state party chief Jayant Patil as its legislature party leader. Maharashtra State Congress President Balasaheb Thorat has been appointed the new Maharashtra Congress Legislature Party leader.