The saga of political rebels in Maharashtra is not new, with one rebellion in 1978 seeing the now NCP supremo Sharad Pawar breaking away from his party to become the state's youngest Chief Minister.
As it is commonly said, 'Never say no in politics'. And it fits right in as Devendra Fadnavis has been sworn in as the Chief Minister of the state with Ajit Pawar as his deputy. And at one point in time, Fadnavis was not the biggest fan of Pawar.
The BJP-NCP government in Maharashtra took charge on Saturday after the President's rule, imposed in the state a fortnight ago, was revoked at 5.47 AM, a Union Home Ministry notification said.
The Shiv Sena-NCP-Congress combine on Saturday filed a petition in the Supreme Court seeking quashing of the Maharashtra governor's decision to swear in BJP's Devendra Fadnavis as chief minister and demanded a floor test on Sunday itself to avoid "further horse trading." The apex is set to hear the petition at 11:30 am on Sunday.
This political shocker in Maharashtra may have caused much grief to the Congress, NCP and Shiv Sena but the early morning development left netizens amused on Twitter. While some took to Twitter, comparing the BJP's turnaround to oft-shocking plot lines in HBO's show 'Game of Thrones', others credited Amit Shah to be the 'best finisher' and compared him to 'Chanakya'.
Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala said, "Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar acted like Shakuni and Duryodhana and killed the democracy in the state." It was a black day for democracy, he added. The Congress has posed ten questions to the Prime Minister and the Home Minister over Maharashtra developments.
Stunned by NCP chief Sharad Pawar's nephew Ajit Pawar's move to help the BJP form a government in Maharashtra, the Shiv Sena has brought its 55 MLAs in a hotel in Navi Mumbai to avoid poaching.
'Modi hai to mumkin hai' - That's the expression Devendra Fadnavis was full of on Saturday when he took oath as the Chief Minister of Maharashtra for the second time. The 49-year-old leader managed to occupy the hot seat, thanks to Ajit Pawar.
Ajit Pawar is the most talked-about man in Maharashtra politics today. 49-year-old Devendra Fadnavis took over the reins of Maharashtra as he took oath as Chief Minister in an unexpected turn of events on Saturday morning, courtesy -- Ajit Pawar, who also managed to get a deputy Chief Minister post in his kitty.
The rebel NCP MLAs are confidants of Ajit Pawar. The numbers are not clear but the rebellion may be compared with Akhilesh Yadav's bid to control his Samajwadi Party while being the Chief Minister. Initially, his father and party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav sided with his brother Shivpal Yadav but later swung towards his son after the dust settled.
Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) spokesperson Nawab Malik on Saturday claimed that during the oath-taking ceremony of Ajit Pawar at the Raj Bhawan here 10 rebel MLAs were present, out of which four have returned to the party fold.
After Devendra Fadnavis was sworn in as the Chief Minister of Maharashtra in what was yet another twist in the political landscape of the state, Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad has taken a jibe at the Shiv Sena for betraying Balasaheb Thackeray while at the same time justified the swearing in ceremony of Devendra Fadnavis.
Jammu and Kashmir Congress president G A Mir on Saturday took a jibe at the BJP over the political developments in Maharashtra and said the BJP "purified" NCP's Ajit Pawar with its "Ganga jal" overnight after levelling serious corruption allegations against him.
According to reports, the party is planning to shift its MLAs to Madhya Pradesh till the trust vote is concluded. This move comes to avoid horse-trading ahead of the floor tests which is slated to be held on 30 November.
In a startling claim, Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut on Saturday said that Ajit Pawar of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) was "blackmailed" into joining hands with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Maharashtra. He said Ajit Pawar might return to the NCP fold.
Na Band, Na Baaja, Na Baaraat -- that's what senior Congress leader Ahmed Patel said in his dig on the unexpected swearing-in ceremony of Devendra Fadnavis as Maharashtra Chief Minister on Saturday morning.
Sharad Pawar said that 10-11 MLAs have gone with Ajit Pawar but that number is not enough to escape anti-defection law. He claimed that the BJP will not be able to prove its majority in the Assembly.
The Prime Minister had made it clear that Devendra Fadnavis was again going to be the Chief Minister. Fadnavis's name was also endorsed in the parliamentary board meeting held late that same day.
As Saturday morning brought surprise and amazement to many with a 180-degree-turnaround in the Maharashtra politics, it once again reinforced the fact that Amit Anilchandra Shah is the undisputed 'Chanakya', when it comes to Indian politics.
In the wake of dramatic political developments in the state, security has been beefed up at offices of political parties and leaders' residences to prevent untoward incidents. Devendra Fadnavis took oath as Chief Minister of Maharashtra and NCP leader Ajit Pawar was sworn in as his deputy at Raj Bhavan in Mumbai.
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