After Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Ajit Pawar and several lawmakers joined hands with Eknath Shinde-Devendra Fadnavis government in the state, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has received a significant boost in Maharashtra.
It is pertinent to note that that Ajit Pawar was appointed as the second Deputy CM of Maharashtra. The oath-taking ceremony of Ajit Pawar along with his ally ministers Chhagan Bhujbal, Hasan Mushrif, Dhananjay Munde, Dilip Walse Patil, Dharmarao Baba Atram, Aditi Tatkare, Anil Patil, and Sanjay Bansode took place on July 2.
This comes at a time when the BJP is working on strengthening its position in several states after losing assembly elections in some of the key states in the country. Currently, the BJP is in power in 10 out of 28 states.
Recently, BJP lost in West Bengal Elections by a big margin to Trinamool Congress. TMC was seen as a fierce rival to the BJP. In Himachal Pradesh and Karnataka BJP was defeated by Indian National Congress. In Karnataka Elections after a decade, Congress managed to win. Congress displaced the BJP from its only stronghold in the country's southern region. This victory was a huge milestone achieved by Congress as it wants to revive its chances in the upcoming 2024 General Elections.
But, the current political scenario of Maharashtra might assist the BJP in securing more parliamentary seats in the 2024 Lok Sabha Elections. Since 2019 the country’s financial capital has witnessed a lot of political turmoil. In the 2019 Assembly Elections, the BJP won 105 out of the 288 assembly seats and formed the initial government. However, the BJP's power was short-lived since they were overthrown by a coalition made up of the NCP, the Congress Party, and a division of the Shiv Sena Party. Through this alliance, Shiv Sena party's leader Uddhav Thackeray was elected Chief Minister.
The Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government was formed with the alliance of the then Shiv Sena, NCP, and Congress parties. The MVA had emerged as a model of opposition unity against the BJP in preparation for the upcoming parliamentary elections.
The Economic Times in its recent report, stated that a fragmented group of Shiv Sena, i.e. Shinde faction, aligned with BJP to seize power from Thackeray’s government. Maharashtra has 48 seats in Lok Sabha, in terms of representation it is second to Uttar Pradesh.
Ajit Pawar, before taking oath as Deputy CM, resigned from his Leader of Opposition post.
Several opposition parties including the TMC and AAP have emphasised the urgent need for opposition unity to challenge the Narendra Modi-led government at the centre.
However, Ajit Pawar and his allies joining hands with BJP is being recognised as a setback to those efforts not only in the state but also nationally.
A day earlier, July 3, NCP disqualified the rebel leaders, who sworn in as ministers in the Shinde's Sena- BJP government for indulging in anti-party activities. The NCP moved a disqualification petition against Ajit Pawar and eight other ministers to Maharashtra Assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar.
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