Maharashtra political drama: The story so far

TIMESOFINDIA.COM / Updated: Nov 28, 2019, 19:05 IST

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Maharashtra political drama: The story so far

Key Highlights

Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray was sworn-in as the CM of Maharashtra, becoming the first of the Thackeray family to hold the top post. Thackeray, who will be leading the Maha Vikas Aghadi govt comprising the Sena, the NCP and the Cong, is the third of his party to be CM after Manohar Joshi and Narayan Rane. The run up to Uddhav's swearing in has been full of drama, twists and turns that saw decades-old alliances being broken and new political combinations emerge.

This is how the political drama unfolded in Maharashtra since the declaration of results on October 24.

In the assembly elections held in October, the BJP and the Shiv Sena contested the polls together and won 105 and 56 seats respectively. However, the allies fell apart over power-sharing and rotating CM's post. Uddhav Thackeray wanted the chief minister's post on a rotational basis, but the BJP rejected his claim saying no such agreement was finalised before the elections and made it clear that Fadnavis would be the chief minister for full five years.
Uddhav Thackeray walked out of the NDA and reached out to the NCP which had won 54 seats and the Congress with 44 seats for forming a Shiv Sena government in the state.

Live updates: Maharashtra govt formation

President's Rule was imposed in the state as no party came forward to form the government even as negotiations between the Congress, NCP and the Shiv Sena progressed.
Hours after the Shiv Sena, Congress and the NCP announced the formation of their alliance, governor Bahgat Singh Koshyari in a surprise early-morning development invited Devendra Fadnavis to form the government along with Ajit Pawar, who is the nephew of NCP chief Sharad Pawar and was then the leader of the NCP legislature party. Fadnavis was sworn in as the CM and Ajit Pawar as deputy CM. PM Modi was among the first to congratulate the Maharashtra CM.

The governor's decision was based on the letters of support provided by Ajit Pawar to the BJP. Fingers were pointed at Sharad Pawar for playing a double game. However, the NCP chief was quick to distance himself from his nephew's moves and made a categorical declaration of staying with the Shiv Sena and the Congress.
Sharad Pawar managed to wean away most of the NCP MLAs who had sided with Ajit. With firm backing of NCP, the alliance MLAs were kept in hotels to avoid poaching attempts. Meanwhile, the NCP continued to woo back Ajit Pawar, who got isolated within the party.
The alliance then approached the Supreme Court against the governor. Two days later, the top court ordered immediate floor test. It also said the voting on the floor would be through an open ballot and would be telecast live.
After the SC verdict, Ajit Pawar, who was constantly being wooed by the NCP, decided to quit as deputy CM and return to the NCP fold. Hours later, Fadnavis also announced his resignation as the chief minister, paving the way for formation of the alliance government.

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