New Delhi : After the massive victory of the Congress in the Karnataka Assembly elections and the recent Supreme Court verdict on the Uddhav Thackeray vs Eknath Shinde case, opposition parties in Maharashtra are gearing up to oust the BJP from the state. Is. The Nationalist Congress Party and Shiv Sena (UBT), the main parties of the opposition and Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) in Maharashtra, have once again started working on an action plan against the coalition government of Eknath Shinde and Devendra Fadnavis.
NCP core committee meeting held in Mumbai
After the massive victory of the Congress in the Karnataka assembly elections and the defeat of the BJP, the movement of opposition parties in Maharashtra intensified against the BJP. As a result of this, the core committee meeting of Maharashtra’s main opposition Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) was held in Mumbai on last Wednesday i.e. May 17, three days after the counting of votes for the Karnataka assembly elections (May 13, 2023). NCP President Sharad Pawar presided over this meeting. In this meeting of the NCP Core Committee, after the BJP’s defeat in Karnataka, along with discussing the political situation in the country, the possibility was also explored whether something new could be done regarding the coalition government of BJP and Eknathi Shiv Sena in Maharashtra.
Karnataka-like anti-incumbency wave in Maharashtra
According to NCP spokesperson Mahesh Taapsee, the NCP’s core committee meeting chaired by Sharad Pawar in Mumbai discussed a broad strategy on matters of party organization to prepare workers in view of the local and general elections. He said that this meeting assumes significance considering that there is an anti-incumbency wave against the Shinde-Fadnavis government in Maharashtra like in Karnataka.
Opposition got strength from Supreme Court’s decision
In fact, the NCP and the Shiv Sena (UBT) have got a boost from the Supreme Court’s decision on May 11, along with the BJP’s defeat in the Karnataka assembly elections. In the case of Uddhav Thackeray vs Eknath Shinde in Maharashtra, the Supreme Court in one of its decisions on 11 May 2023 has not justified the step taken by the then Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari. In the decision, the Supreme Court has said that at that time it was illegal to order Uddhav Thackeray to prove his majority.
Along with this, the Supreme Court has put the matter of disqualification of 16 MLAs of Eknath faction in the court of the Speaker. However, the court also said that even after the appointment of Bharat Gogawale Chief Whip of the Shinde faction, the action taken by the Speaker was illegal. After this decision of the court, the activities of NCP and Shiv Sena (UBT), the main parties of Mahavikas Aghadi in Maharashtra, against the Eknath Shinde and Devendra Fadnavis government have intensified.
Lesson learned from the change of power in Bihar
If political analysts are to be believed, after the results of the Karnataka assembly elections, the opposition parties have intensified their activities against the BJP in Maharashtra, taking lessons from the change of power in Bihar. In August 2022, there was a change of power in Bihar and Chief Minister Nitish Kumar broke ties with the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) and once again formed a grand alliance government with the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD). Due to this, a big change was seen in the politics of the whole country and a campaign was started to strengthen the opposition unity against the BJP. Taking inspiration from this politics of Bihar, after the results of the Karnataka assembly elections in Maharashtra, the campaign against the coalition government of Eknath Shinde and Devendra Fadnavis has once again intensified at the state level.
After the results of Karnataka, JP Nadda said – ‘We are only us, no one else’
What is the game plan of the opposition
The opposition and especially the NCP have started to feel that on the lines of Karnataka, an attempt will be made to capitalize on the anti-incumbency wave against Eknath Shinde’s government, then the opposition can benefit in the Maharashtra assembly elections. This is the reason why NCP has already started preparing workers at the local level. Party spokesperson Mahesh Tapase said that the internal organizational elections of NCP will be announced soon and for this, senior leaders Jayaprakash Dandegaonkar and Dilip Walse Patil have been appointed as returning officers for Maharashtra and Mumbai regions. The purpose of this exercise of NCP is to first strengthen the party and then take along the constituents of Maha Vikas Aghadi to communicate with the public from the booth level to the district and assembly level, so that the people of Maharashtra are informed about the failures of the Eknath Shinde government. Can be told about and the alliance made with the BJP to topple the Uddhav government.
