The rebellion of Eknath Shinde, a strong Shiv Sena leader and once close to Balasaheb Thackeray and Uddhav Thackeray, has put a question mark on the fate of the coalition government in the state. But the BJP, which is being blamed by the Shiv Sena leaders for this crisis, is still in wait and watch mode.
BJP leaders are closely monitoring the developments in Maharashtra. Along with the number of MLAs with Eknath Shinde and their future strategy, the BJP is also waiting to know the stand of Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari. Though the Governor has been admitted to hospital as he has tested positive for the Coronavirus.
BJP says this is an internal matter of Shiv Ssena. Talking to IANS, a senior BJP leader said, “For the sake of power, Shiv Sena formed the government in alliance with Congress and the NCP by leaving the path of Hindutva, insulting the mandate and betraying us (BJP). This immoral and unusual alliance had to be broken. It is the failure of Uddhav Thackeray that he could not even handle his party.”
The BJP, which once burnt its fingers in the Ajit Pawar episode, is in no mood to be in a hurry. That’s why the command of the entire tussle is still in the hands of Shiv Sena’s rebel minister Eknath Shinde.
Shinde, along with other rebel Sena MLAs, is now in another BJP-ruled state of Assam. They landed in Guwahati on Wednesday morning from Surat. Shinde has claimed that 40 out of 55 MLAs of the party are with him. He has also claimed the support of seven Independent MLAs.
During the phone conversation with Uddhav Thackeray on Tuesday, Shinde put several conditions for returning back to the party fold. So far he has not got the answers. Till then the BJP is keeping a close watch on the entire development from behind the scenes.