Shinde hints at Maharashtra return as Fadnavis meets governor

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) met Maharashtra governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari on Tuesday evening and demanded that the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government prove its majority on the floor of the assembly, indicating that the week-long political turmoil was entering its final lap.

Former chief minister Devendra Fadnavis returned to Mumbai after meeting Union home minister Amit Shah and BJP chief JP Nadda in Delhi and drove to Raj Bhavan from the airport. Accompanying him were four party lawmakers and letters of support from eight independent legislators.

“We have given a letter to the Maharashtra governor demanding an immediate floor test. 39 Shiv Sena members do not support the MVA government. The government is in a minority,” Fadnavis told reporters.

The meeting marked a dramatic shift in the stance of the BJP, which has been in wait-and-watch mode since the MVA was hit by political turmoil last week. Despite the rebels camping in the BJP-run states of Gujarat and Assam (they said on Tuesday that they will return to Mumbai soon) the national party refused to make any public statements and maintained that it was an internal Sena matter.

At the time of going to press, the Raj Bhavan had not released any official communique on the BJP’s request for a floor test.

Legal experts indicated that the governor may order a floor test within the next fewdays but Sena leaders argued that any such move will be legally challenged as disqualification proceedings against 16 rebels are still pending (though the dissidents have got protection from the Supreme Court till July 11). Moreover, with acting speaker Narhari Zirwal’s authority under a cloud — the rebels have moved for his removal — any decision on moving ahead with a floor test is likely to end up before the courts.

Shiv Sena leaders said they anticipated the entry of Bharatiya Janata Party into the political activity in the state. “We will wait for Honourable Governor to give his order [based on the demand by the opposition party]. We will take our next step accordingly,” said Anil Parab, Sena leader and parliamentary affairs minister. The Sena is expected to move Supreme Court once the governor gives the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi the date for a special session to prove its majority.

Earlier in the evening, CM Thackeray held a meeting with party legislators and directed them to stay in Mumbai as the political activities were expected to pick pace. “Uddhavji assured us that the Shinde group will have to merge with a political party as the law is quite clear on it. Besides that he has asked us to stay in Mumbai,” said a Sena legislator.

The development came on a day rebel Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shinde hinted that the group of rebel lawmakers, which has pushed the MVA to the brink of collapse, will return to Mumbai soon from Guwahati, where they have camped all week. The camp has 39 MLAs, more than the two-thirds it needs to legally break away from the party.

Shinde, who has camped in Guwahati since June 22, said he had the support of 50 lawmakers. “We are in Shiv Sena and there should not be any doubt about it. We are taking Balasaheb’s Shiv Sena forward and we will go to Mumbai very soon,” he told reporters.

The turmoil began last week, hours after the MVA suffered a setback in the legislative council election, when Shinde and his loyalists set off for Surat, and later Guwahati. As days passed, the rebel ranks swelled even as an increasingly desperate Sena appealed to deputy speaker Narhari Zirwal to disqualify 16 lawmakers. Those efforts came undone on Monday as the Supreme Court protected the rebels from disqualification proceedings till July 11, giving the dissidents a breather.

In Mumbai, chief minister Uddhav Thackeray issued yet another emotional appeal to the rebel legislators and Nationalist Congress Party leader Supriya Sule struck a conciliatory tone, asking the rebels to return for talks.

But Shinde appeared combative and challenged Thackeray. “Some people from that side are claiming that some MLAs here are in touch with them. If it is the case, then they should reveal their names. No need to worry about the MLAs here. All the MLAs are happy and fine. Nobody is here for any personal benefit,” he said.

In Delhi, Fadnavis and lawyer Mahesh Jethmalani met Shah for nearly two hours, said a party functionary aware of details. “They discussed the political situation in the state and examined the legal as well as political choices before the BJP. The meeting lasted nearly two hours, following which Fadnavis met Nadda,” said the functionary, requesting anonymity.

Party functionaries who spoke on condition of anonymity said the BJP did not want to make any political move that may not withstand judicial scrutiny. “It is a case of once bitten twice shy. The party wants to be sure that the steps that it takes are legally sound and will not be challenged in the court of law,” said a senior party leader, requesting anonymity. In 2019, shortly after the assembly election, Fadnavis was sworn in as CM along with Ajit Pawar as his deputy in an early morning ceremony but the duo had to resign after failing to cobble together a majority.

In Mumbai, Thackeray urged the dissidents to return to Maharashtra and hold talks with him, saying it was not “too late”.

“It is not too late. I appeal to you to return and sit with me and remove the confusion (created by your actions) among Shiv Sainiks and the public,” a statement by Thackeray’s aide quoted him as saying.

“If you return and face me, some way could be found. As the party president and family head, I still care for you,” he said. The CM said family members of some rebel MLAs camping in Guwahati were in touch with him.

“You have been stuck in Guwahati for the last few days. New information is coming out about you every day, and many of you are also in touch. In your heart, you are still with the Shiv Sena,” he said.

This is the third such emotional appeal by Thackeray, who has previously also asked the rebels to talk to him, saying that he didn’t want to remain CM if his own partymen didn’t want him in the chair. He also moved out of the CM’s bungalow to his family home Matoshree, the seat of Sena power and the erstwhile residence of party founder Bal Thackeray. But his party colleague and MP Sanjay Raut took a more aggressive stance. “Traitors should not be able to roam on the streets,” he said, addressing a rally at Alibag in Raigad district.

The NCP also backed Thackeray. “When (Sena founder) Balasaheb Thackeray was alive, he chose Uddhavji as his true heir and gave him the big responsibility of looking after the Shiv Sena. If Uddhavji is making an emotional appeal to the (rebel Sena) MLAs, it shows how honest he is,” said Sule, the Lok Sabha MP from Baramati.

Asked if the dissident MLAs will come back to the Sena fold, the NCP leader said she was not an astrologer but if a son or a daughter in a family was sulking, parents step in to resolve their grievances. “If he is making an appeal in the capacity of big brother and if they come back and have a dialogue with Uddhavji, then solutions can be arrived at. Democracy and relations work through dialogue. Dialogue is a must and that is why Thackeray is constantly appealing and he is ready to sit face to face to have dialogue (with the rebel MLAs),” she said.

There are 288 members in the state assembly, of which one seat is vacant. The effective strength of the House, therefore, is 287. The Sena has 55 members (of which 39 are with Shinde), the NCP has 53 (of this, two people, Nawab Malik and Anil Deshmukh, are in jail, and therefore, will likely not be allowed to participate in assembly proceedings) and Congress 44. They have the support of three smaller parties and nine independent members. The BJP has 106 lawmakers. It is backed by two smaller parties and four independents. Together, its strength is 112. Purely on the basis of numbers, the BJP and Shinde look comfortably placed to form the government — but a court battle seems likely before they can get there.