Amid growing unrest in the Shiv Sena camp led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde following the induction of Ajit Pawar and eight other MLAs of the NCP in the Maharashtra government, the BJP sought to allay the concerns and said that the party has no plans to replace the CM and plans to contest the upcoming elections under the “trio”.
A top source in the party told The Indian Express: “The BJP wants to weaken the MVA (alliance of NCP, Congress and Shiv Sena) with the trio of Shinde, Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar. We want to fight both Lok Sabha and Assembly polls in 2024 under this leadership. We think it’s a formidable force.”
The comment, however, has made the Shinde camp, which has yet to know about the disqualification complaint status against its MLAs, jittery.
It has also set off speculation among a section in BJP that is still getting used to the idea of Shinde leading a smaller group of MLAs.
While Ajit Pawar is seen as BJP’s Maratha face, one must take into account that when Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil, a multiple-term MLA and a prominent Maratha leader, joined BJP from the Congress in 2019, he could not come up to its expectations.
There were complaints from party leaders that Patil was trying to take control of the Maratha lobby but not working in BJP’s interests, it is learnt, as reported by IE. When Shinde joined hands with BJP, the party’s hopes were on his ability to snatch Maratha votes from the Sena and the NCP.
Unfortunately, Shinde “created discomfort” for many in BJP and “tried to hog the limelight, always sidelining the BJP.”
Ajit Pawar will be a more endearing face with a wider appeal among voters, a section of leaders agree. “If you ask any BJP worker or supporter, he or she will say Ajit Pawar is more accepted than Shinde,” a BJP leader from Maharashtra said.
