This is a specially commissioned article penned for Free Press by Shiv Sena’s former Rajya Sabha MP Bharatkumar Raut
Mumbai : Now that Devendra Fadnavis has taken the oath of new Chief Minister of Maharashtra, along with his initial team of 10 ministers, on face of it, it looks like the wrangle in the state political scene would begin to weather out. Moreover, the sulking former ally Shiv Sena also seemed like coming closer once again. However, political pundits believe that it’s still far from being smoothened. The pointer is that though Uddhav Thackeray attended the swearing-in ceremony, he has not yet agreed to come on board with the BJP without conditions.
And the conditions put forth by the Shiv Sena are not such that they could be easily accepted by the BJP high command. Shiv Sena had announced its boycott on the swearing in ceremony last night after party functionary Rajiv Pratap Rudi tweeted announcing the party’s decision to induct only BJP MLAs in the first phase of the cabinet formation. “If the BJP does not have respect for us, why should we attend their function?” asked party MP Vinayak Raut. Following Uddhav’s decision, other Sena leaders and office-bearers also decided to keep away. However, by morning party president Amit Shah and Union finance minister Arun Jaitley made personal telephone calls to Matoshree to woo Uddhav, who in turn agreed to attend the function.
During this conversation, neither Shah nor Jaitley agreed to accept any of the conditions, thus kept the issue open. Now that Uddhav attended the function, there are indications that the ice has started melting. This is considered to be a significant development. Now that Uddhav, Shah and Narendra Modi have met, though briefly and as a formality, there is a possibility that sooner than later meaningful dialogue between BJP and the Sena would begin, that would result in Sena participating in the government. If it happens, BJP and Sena with a sizeable bulk of 196 MLAs in the 288-member State Assembly, will enjoy a comfortable majority and would not have to depend on ‘outside’ and ‘unconditional’ support from Sharad Pawar’s Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) for its existence.
Fadnavis in his first instalment of ministers has tried to give representation to various regions, castes and sections of the state. Induction of Eknath Khadse, Sudhir Mungatiwar, Vinod Tawde and Pankaja Munde would take care of all those who were aspiring to be the chief minister. He has also ensured that all six regions of the state and Mumbai get representation. Considering the fact that the BJP has decided to go by Modi’s ‘maximum governance, minimum government’ formula in the state also, the size of Devendra’s cabinet is not likely to exceed 30, of which 10 are already in place. It only means that now there is a room for only 20 more. Devendra is obliged to give berth to four of his pre-election allies, Republican Party of India, Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghatana, Rashtriya Samaj Party and Shiv Sangram Sanghatana, in the government, apart from Sena.
Therefore, the task of cabinet formation does not look like as easy and happy as it could have been, had the alliance crossed the magic figure of 145. Though none of the allies, barring RSP has elected any MLA, their exclusion or inclusion would not have any direct impact on the survival of the government, their displeasure would surely have impact on running of the state for the next five years.
The next task before the new CM would be allocation of portfolios. Considering that the CM would like to retain two most important portfolios, home and finance with him, it would be worth watching who gets other significant departments like Revenue, Irrigation, Public Works, Industries and Urban Development. Another challenge that the government would face before it seeks the vote of confidence from the new Assembly, is election of Speaker of the House. If an amicable truce is not forged between BJP and Sena before the commencing of the brief session of the Assembly, if Sena, NCP and Congress come together and field a united candidate for the post to preside the House, it would be difficult for the BJP, if not impossible for the BJP to return its nominee. Moreover, leaders of the allies are palpably unhappy about the treatment meted out to them in their inclusion in the government.
In this situation, it would not be a cake-walk for Devendra to run the government, first ever in Maharashtra under the leadership of the BJP. Devendra, though a highly educated and intelligent leader having RSS background and support, does not have any administrative experience apart from running a mayor-in council at Nagpur for one term. Will he be able to deal with all problems and hurdles to provide a stable, able and transparent government for the next five years? His road to success would be decided in the first six months.
-Bharatkumar Raut
Twitter: @BharatkumarRaut
