As the dust has finally settled over Maharashtra's political crisis, reports from trustful sources have started to trickle in that the Eknath Shinde storm was not a one day affair, instead it was in the making for quite some time.
The revelations from sources became further striking when they spilled the beans that former chief minister Uddhav Thackeray was subtly briefed aboutthe calm before the storm by none other than Sharad Pawar.
The maratha strongman had alerted Udddhav about intelligence inputs of discontent amongst Sena old guards.
“Sharad Pawar had subtly hinted to Uddhav several times to get his house in order. He had alerted the Sena chief of the trouble brewing in the saffron party. The seasoned politician even asked him to placate the old guard finding it difficult to work with ideologically different alliance partners,” revealed an IPS Officer with the state intelligence department, who had regularly briefed the home portfolio held by NCP.
The state intelligence department (SID) had reported unusual movements of Shinde and his secret meetings with Sena legislators and independent MLAs during the last two months.
“A daily report was compiled and the home minister was briefed about political developments in the state. The turmoil and rebellion was brewing for quite some time and was expected to spill out of control unless it was quelled by the respective party leadership. We can only give intelligence inputs but action has to be taken by the political leadership,” said the senior officer.
Corroborating the state intelligence department claims, a Sena office-bearer admitted to lapses by the party leadership in taking the disgruntled MLAs grievances seriously.
“Uddhav was maintaining the fine balancing act with the alliance partners and the push and pull of alliance politics which left little time for his own personal life, health and party. He had no experience in administration but managed the state efficiently during Covid crisis. His only failure was trusting his senior party leaders and refusing to believe reports of possible rebellion brewing in the disciplined Sena cadres,” lamented the party officebearer.
Uddhav’s reluctance to take prompt remedial actions on the advice of senior and experienced alliance political leaders like Sharad Pawar cost the Sena chief the CMchair and consequent collapse of the tripartite government.
“Too little, too late reaction by the Sena leadership after the rebel group with Eknath Shinde had already escaped to Surat. Strong and prompt decisive action could have quelled the growing discontent and averted the vertical split in the rank and file of Sena,” noted a veteran Mantralaya bureaucrat on the fall of the Sena.
However, NCP state president Jayant Patil has maintained that Sharad Pawar was unaware that Uddhav will resign and rebel Eknath Shinde mutiny would lead to the Maha Vikas Aghadi’s collapse.
“Our chief had advised Uddhav not to resign. Sharad Pawar ji had managed to unite three different parties for the development of Maharashtra. MVA worked hard for the last twoand-a-half years and the state had a CM committed to the welfare of Maharashtra. He handled the pandemic splendidly,” Patil remarked.
