Mahayudh again in Maharashtra, with a twist this time

Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis and deputy CM Eknath Shinde's relationship is reportedly under strain.

The Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) Hindutva project achieved a major milestone when it neutralised the Aam Aadmi Party’s (AAP) challenge in Delhi by winning the assembly elections there earlier this month. The BJP has been seen doing predatory politics vis-a-vis Opposition parties as part of its "shat-pratishat Bhajapa" (100 percent BJP) campaign, basically aimed at gaining power everywhere on its own.

Hindutva space can’t be shared

In doing so, it's endeavour has been to first join hands with regional parties to get a foothold in states where it had little or no presence, and then slowly raise its stakes in the politics there by initially using those parties as stepping stones and later marginalising them. It has been most ruthless in this endeavour against parties that explicitly or subtly espouse Hindutva- it doesn’t want to share this space with any other political entity.

As against that the BJP has chosen to be more accommodative and considerate to non-Hindutva parties like Janata Dal (United) led by Nitish Kumar.

In Maharashtra, the Shiv Sena presented BJP with a challenge. It was able to dislodge the original combined Shiv Sena only by engineering another one, now loosely known as Shinde Sena, led by former Chief Minister and current Deputy CM Eknath Shinde. It's akin to digging a new pit to fill up the old one.

Second act of the 2014-19 play

The new Maharashtra government led by the BJP, formed along with Shinde Sena and Ajit Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), has lapsed into the same game of 0ne-upmanship with Shinde Sena, much the same way as it was with original Sena led by Uddhav Thackeray during the 2014-19 coalition government rule.

The role of BJP's chief tormentor, then played by Uddhav Thackeray, has now seemingly been assumed by Shinde, who has lost no opportunity to play hardball with the BJP ever since the election results were announced in November.

Shinde puts up a fight

Shinde started off with showing his displeasure at not being considered for the CM's post and later settled for the Deputy CM's post.

In the process, of course, he did extract his pound of flesh by getting some key ministries like Housing, Urban Development, Mining, Transport, General Administration, Industries, etc.

But Shinde kept insisting on District Guardian Ministership of Raigad and Nashik.

Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, however, cocked a snook at him by announcing names of Aditi Tatkare of NCP and Girish Mahajan of the BJP for the two districts, respectively.

This apparently enraged Shinde, who kept on insisting that the two posts must be given to his party.

Fadnavis did try to placate him by saying that he was putting the appointments on hold. But when flag hoisting for January 26 came up, he directed his two appointees to go ahead, thus putting an end to the issue on a jarring note for Shinde.

Shinde was taken off mineral-rich Gadchiroli where he was Guardian Minister for past ten years. Fadnavis himself took up the responsibility.

Shinde’s cold war with Fadnavis seemed to spiral out of control with the latter recently ordering a probe into an alleged scam into a housing scheme in Jalna which was restarted by Shinde when he was CM. The scheme was earlier shut by Thackeray.

Parallel meetings

Shinde's sulk kept on growing leading to his frequent absence from important Cabinet and other meetings and his holding parallel meetings of officials.

He also held a review meeting for the planning of 2027 Nashik Kumbh mela, when a meeting had already been held.

All this has only strained the Shinde-Fadnavis relationship and the rift is now a public spectacle.

The unsavoury turn taken by the Shinde-Fadnavis relationship in a short span of just over three months of the new government taking over has raised many questions.

What is Shinde’s gameplan?

First, what's that Shinde now wants? Obviously he can't regain CM's post now.

Also, he knows it too well that the Fadnavis government can easily make do without him since Ajit Pawar has made peace with his destiny being tied to the BJP.

So, his dispensability notwithstanding, why is he doing it? And where does he draw his strength from?

The answer probably lies in the fact that the BJP has got hemmed in by its internal dynamics this time.

Fadnavis, who was unceremoniously demoted to Deputy CM's post in the previous dispensation, doesn't enjoy a great rapport with the full spectrum of BJP’s senior leadership in Delhi.

It is speculated that Shinde’s proximity to some top BJP leaders in Delhi has led them to use him to check a dynamic and sharp Fadnavis from becoming too powerful. Wary of his unsparing killer instinct and his closeness to RSS, they simply don't want him to pose any challenge to them in near future.

Already, a section of RSS supporters is talking of Fadnavis as the probable face to replace Narendra Modi as PM in 2029.

Also, the BJP can't afford to be seen as an opportunistic predator all too soon. Questions will also be asked of it as to what happened to the so-called ideological excuses it made to cut Uddhav Thackeray to size. People will ask as to why now it has played foul with the Sena that it said was the true Sena as it was following in the footsteps of founder Bal Thackeray.

Moreover, the crucial municipal elections, in limbo for over two years now, will happen in a few months. Among them is the wealthy Bombay Municipal Corporation, where all parties have, for now, decided to fight independently.

As destiny would have it, Shinde, poached from undivided Shiv Sena to serve as a stop-gap CM to politically destroy Uddhav Thackeray, is proving to be a headache for Fadnavis.

To that extent, the BJP is back to square one, finding itself in a 2019-like situation, when it had to deal with Uddhav challenge. Hindutva monopoly will, meanwhile, continue to elude the BJP in Mahabharata.