- The dramatic political developments witnessed over the last ten days in Maharashtra had garnered tremendous interest around the country. It was intriguing for the people closely following the political happenings to guess what the eventual outcome could be. The Maha Vikas Aghadi alliance consisting of Shiv Sena, Congress, and NCP was always trudging along on thin ice with speculations running deep about its sustainability. The single largest party, the Bharatiya Janata Party, was always expected to attempt to induce the tenuous alliance partners to break free. We all know how the BJP’s election machinery is always on the lookout to emerge on top of its opposition even if it entails adopting atypical means within the legal parameters.
PC: Navya Singh
- The case in point is the government formations in Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka, respectively by enticing MLAs to switch sides leading to the BJP administration coming to power. Coming back to Maharashtra potboiler, the MVA government had rushed to the Supreme Court after the governor directed it to prove its majority. As it turned out, the Supreme Court has followed precedent and upheld the sanctity of the floor test, offering no room for any further delays, thereby forcing the incumbent CM Uddhav Thackeray to quit. In hindsight, the long window it earlier granted until July 12 to 16 rebel Shiv Sena MLAs to reply to disqualification notices was unnecessary. It had only raised worries of the floor test getting delayed.
- Looking back will reveal that trust motions have always served well over the years in gleaning actual legislative strengths amid the fog of claims and counterclaims. Shiv Sena’s internal drama had dragged on for ten days. Moreover, no public interest could have been served by prolonging the confusion. Only more unrest and chaos would have ensued with further delays. Of course, the pending disqualification notices against 16 MLAs didn’t stall the trust vote as was feared. Remember, in 2020, the SC had ruled that the pendency of disqualification proceedings against Jyotiraditya Scindia’s MLAs who had resigned their MP assembly membership cannot delay the floor test. The same precedent was followed in Maharashtra’s case too.
PC: Anurag Dwary
- For the uninitiated, Constitution’s Tenth Schedule (Para 4) allows a breakaway faction comprising two-thirds of a political party to stay in the original party or merge with another political party or a new party without facing disqualification. Thus, if it is proven that Eknath Shinde has at least 37 Sena MLAs with him, the Uddhav faction faces a tough road ahead. With the resignation of Uddhav, it remains to be seen how Shiv Sena politics plays out in the days ahead. It is unlikely Shinde will go back to playing second fiddle to Thackeray after proving his mettle. With the MVA experiment most likely over, can Shiv Sena and BJP rebuild their old partnership? Did someone say anything is possible in politics? Wait and watch for the suspense-filled drama to unfold.
