Maharashtra political crisis has been going on since 2019. Here’s why

The political crisis in Maharashtra is deepening as the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) alliance is struggling to save the government. A group of Shiv Sena leaders led by Eknath Shinde have rebelled against the government and have moved to Assam capital Guwahati.

Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray on Wednesday left his official residence Varsha and moved back to Matoshree, the residence of Thackeray family. He left, shortly after a speech where he said he is willing to resign if the MLAs and Sainiks tell him to his face that they do not want him to continue.

But even after his move, the trouble for the MVA government seems to be far from over with three more Sena MLAs joining rebels in Guwahati. Shinde is now inching closer to garnering the support of 37 party MLAs, which is required to buck the anti-defection law.

The current situation in the state seems to have developed in the last few days, but the political crisis in the state has been going on since the assembly elections in 2019.

2019 ASSEMBLY POLLS IN MAHARASHTRA

On October 21, 2019, assembly elections took place in Maharashtra for 288 seats. Results were announced on October 24 with BJP emerging as the single-largest party with 105 seats, followed by the Shiv Sena which got 56 seats. NCP got 54 seats while the Congress secured 44 seats. But no party was close to the majority mark of 145. Being the party with the most number of seats, the BJP was invited by the Governor to indicate willingness to form the government and 48 hours to prove that it has the majority.

PARTIES FAIL TO PROVE MAJORITY

On November 10, 2019, BJP expressed inability to form the government. The same day, Sena, the party with second-highest numbers in the state, was asked by the Governor to convey its willingness to form government by granting it 24 hours to demonstrate its majority. The next day, Sena stake a claim to form the government and said it has the majority support. But the party requested the Governor for three days' time to give the letters of support. The Governor declined the request and rejected Sena's claim to form the government. The decision of the Governor was challenged in the Supreme Court by Sena, and on November 12, President's rule was imposed in Maharashtra.

3-DAY GOVERNMENT

A day after the Sena-Congress-NCP alliance (Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi) decided on November 22 that Uddhav Thackeray will be their CM candidate, Maharashtra saw some dramatic political developments. A three-day government was formed led by Devendra Fadnavis as CM after he got unexpected support from NCP's Ajit Pawar. President's rule was revoked and Fadnavis was sworn-in as Maharashtra chief minister and Ajit Pawar as deputy CM. But the government didn't last more than three days and Ajit Pawar returned to the Sharad Pawar-led party fold.

UDDHAV THACKERAY BECOMES THE CM

After over a month-long drama, Maharashtra politics finally got some stability as Uddhav Thackeray was sworn-in as the 18th chief minister of Maharashtra on 28 November. After the Fadnavis-led government lasted only for 80 hours as Ajit Pawar returned to the NCP, the Supreme Court ordered an immediate floor test in Maharashtra and finally the MVA alliance was able to prove the majority.

CURRENT POLITICAL CRISIS

On Tuesday (21 June), after many Shiv Sena MLAs were not reachable, Uddhav Thackeray asked all party MLAs to attend legislature party meeting in Mumbai. Sena MLA Nitin Deshmukh returned from Gujarat and said he was forcibly admitted to a hospital and given injections. The rebel MLAs of Sena led by Eknath Shinde moved to Guwahati on Wednesday. Shinde claimed he has the support of 40 MLAs but said “we all are followers of Balasaheb Thackeray and we have neither left Shiv Sena nor plan to leave Shiv Sena.'

On Thursday (June 23), Maharashtra Governor and the CM tested positive for Covid-19. Sena MP Sanjay Raut tweeted: “Ongoing political developments a journey towards dissolution of the state assembly.”

Congress leader Kamal Nath arrived in Mumbai to meet party leaders and said Congress MLAs are not for sale.

Uddhav Thackeray gave an emotional speech and said he was ready to quit if Sena leaders wanted him to. He left his residence Varsha and moved back to Matoshree. But the next day, three more Sena leaders moved to Guwahati further deepening the crisis of the MVA govt.

The story in Maharashtra is still unfolding but the last three years have been full of surprises and it seems like the tussle for power in the state will keep going for some time.