Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar
NCP chief Sharad Pawar has said that Maharashtra is heading for a mid-term poll as he predicted that the new government in Maharashtra led by Shiv Sena rebel leader Eknath Shinde will collapse in the next six months. Pawar claimed that many rebel legislators who are supporting Shinde are not happy with the current arrangement.
"The newly-formed government in Maharashtra may fall in the next six months, hence all should be ready for mid-term polls," an NCP leader quoted Pawar as saying while addressing NCP legislators and other leaders of the party on Sunday evening in Mumbai.
"Once the ministerial portfolios are distributed, their unrest will come out, which will ultimately result in the collapse of the government," Pawar, who is often credited for being the chief architect of the Shiv Sena-NCP- Congress alliance, said.
Pawar also pointed out that the failure of the government will lead to several rebel MLAs returning to their original party. "If we have merely six months in our hands, NCP legislators should spend more time in their respective assembly constituencies."
The Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) came into existence soon after the 2019 Assembly election result was announced that saw the Sena-BJP alliance securing a comfortable majority in the 288-member House. But Shiv Sena ended its over two decades old friendship with the BJP and sided with then-rival parties NCP and Congress only for chief ministership. The Sena-NCP-Congress government was headed by Sena founder Balasaheb Thackeray's son Uddhav.
But the MVA government collapsed after Sena strongman Shinde raised a banner of revolt against Uddhav for relinquishing the party ideology and joining the ranks with rival parties NCP and Congress. Shinde and 39 Sena MLAs said that they are opposed to the alliance with NCP-Congress and demanded from Uddhav to form the government with the support of the BJP. However, Uddhav categorically denied the rebel MLAs' demand. Uddhav finally resigned as the CM after he was asked by the Governor to prove majority on the floor of the House, a decision which was upheld by the Supreme Court.
Shinde later formed the government with the support of the BJP which is the single largest political party in the Legislative Assembly. While Shinde took oath as the Chief Minister, BJP's Devendra Fadnavis was sworn in as his Deputy.
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