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Early solution to resolve Maharashtra unlikely

By Kushal Jeena. Dated: 11/18/2019 3:26:16 PM

With the promulgation of President's rule, the key state of Maharashtra seems to have plunged into a period of political uncertainty and instability after all the stake holders failed to come up magic number that is required for government formation in the state.
The governor Bhagat Singh Koshiyari came under severe criticism after he refused to grant three days to opposition parties Shiv Sena and Nationalist Congress who claimed to have the majority. He had given more than 10 days to the ruling BJP to drum up support of the legislatures to form the government. The Shiv Sena has knocked the door of the Supreme Court challenging governor's decision.
The BJP failed to garner support as its old ally Shiv Sena parted company on the issue of ration of Chief Minister. Sena wanted its leader be made the Chief Minister for the first two and half years under a 50:50 formula that was agreed between the two allies when they decided to fight jointly.
The dead lock, the political analysts say might end in few days as the Congress that has emerged as a deciding factor by winning 44 seats in the recently held assembly elections. The Congress and the NCP have approached Shiv Sena under which NCP would participate in the government with deputy chief minister ship and Congress would support it from outside and will have one of its member as Speaker of the House that is yet to be elected.
Maharashtra is considered to be among the richest states in India for it being highly industrialized that contributes highest earning up to the the state. Its capital Mumbai is globally known as the financial capital of India.
A recently held assembly polls had threw up a hung assembly. No political formation is in a position to form a government without alliance. The Shiv Sena and Congress have asked Sena to sign off a common minimum programme to run Sena led government
The dilemma of the Congress President Sonia Gandhi came to fore after NCP Chief Sharad Pawar had a meeting with her and discussed all the possibilities of government formation in India's highly industrialized state. Pawar's NCP, a regional outfit is an ally of the Congress. The Congress President seems ready to extend support to Sena-NCP government from outside provided they ink a CMP to incorporate few demands of the party including waiving off farmers loan and Sena shunning its image of hard Hindutva, which Shiv Sena leader Uddhav Thakrey seems to have agreed upon
The reluctance of the Sena chief Uddhav Thackrey on joining BJP-led coalition hit road block after he refused to compromise on the office of chief minister and asked BJP to stick to its commitment of 50: 50 sharing. The stand that
"Shiv Sena is not ruling out a possibility of having alliance with the Nationalist Congress Party and Congress to shore up magic number required to form the governmen," said Sanjay Raut, a party spokesman.
The Congress leadership is divided house over the issue of extending any kind of support to the Sena-NCP government. A section of the party is of the view that if Sena and BJP fail to arrive at a conclusion, Congress should join hands with NCP and Sena to form the government. This group that consists mostly of the leaders from Maharashtra and adjoining state of Gujarat argues that it is important for the Congress party to have a say in the governance in Maharashtra at this crucial juncture when country's grand old party has been facing a severe financial crunch and badly require finances to fight upcoming elections and to meet the expenses to run the affairs of country's only political party that has a pan-India presence.
However, the other faction that is opposing any move partnering with Sena maintains that such a decision would further erode party's support base among minorities. "It cannot be described a wise decision to join a communal outfit like Shiv Sena at a time when the verdict of the apex court on Babri mosque-Ram temple issue is about to be delivered later this month," said Sanjay Nirupam, a senior party leader from Mumbai.
The Congress leadership seems to be weighing the pros and cons of the situation. Some leaders think it is for Sena to make a proposal. While Congress has not engaged with Sena, its partner NCP has. Congress-NCP discussions have continued ever since the poll results were out on October 24.
The situation as of now demands that the Congress should allow Pawar to take the lead because being head of a regional party known for having a broad political network, the situation suits him better. He is also in constant touch with Sena leaders. The Congress can ill-afford such a situation.
The current political stalemate in Maharashtra suggests that Congress should tread cautiously and has to be ready to face any situation, but a partnership with Sena can only mean NCP and Sena forming the government, with outside support from Congress. But the longevity of such an arrangement would always lead to questions, and the leadership is not sure if such a compromise with Sena will be worth the risk. Despite having identical opinion on the issue of joining a government in which Sena is a major component there seems a common view in the party that the stalemate between Sena and BJP should be watched till the end, either resulting in an alliance or a break-up. It is only then that Congress can think of moving ahead.
Raut's statements on government formation created flutter in the BJP's rank and file with incumbent chief minister Devendra Fadnavis setting off to New Delhi to meet Amit Shah who hold dual offices of Home Minister and Party president
Although BJP and Shiv Sena had worked out a pre-poll alliance, the latter has been insisting on getting the chief minister's position, at least for half of the term. Neither of the parties has the numbers to form the government on their own. While the BJP has 105 seats, the Shiv Sena won 56 in the 288-member assembly. "We have more than 170 MLAs supporting us, the figure can reach 175,"said Raut. The NCP and Congress together have 98 seats. The combine would thus need Sena's support to form the government.
In tacit response to the fact that the Shiv Sena, NCP and Congress are ideologically poles apart, Raut wrote, "We will have to take it forward the way Atal Bihari Vajpayee ran the government…This is in the interest of Maharashtra."
—[IFS]