Disturbed allies of BJP

Even as the Mahayuti government marked its first month in office, the BJP's two allies are upset, albeit for different reasons.

- SHAILESH GAIKWAD

Deputy chief minister and NCP chief Ajit Pawar is under tremendous pressure to drop his colleague, food and civil supplies minister Dhananjay Munde, from the state cabinet over the Beed sarpanch murder case. The murder has escalated into a major political issue.

Leaders from the opposition and ruling parties are demanding Munde's dismissal, but Pawar is standing firm with Munde. According to Pawar's close aides, he is angry that leaders from both his allies in the ruling alliance, the BJP and Shiv Sena, have trained their guns on Munde.

On the other hand, deputy chief minister and Shiv Sena chief, Eknath Shinde, is ruffled by the frequent meetings between the Thackerays and chief minister Devendra Fadnavis. While Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray met Fadnavis in Nagpur during the winter session of the state legislature last month—it was their first meeting since the 2019 break-up of the saffron alliance—Aaditya Thackeray has met Fadnavis three times recently. Insiders say both Pawar and Shinde are not pleased with the BJP over these developments, but they cannot do anything about it.

Both camps had been looking to poach MPs and MLAs from their rival factions, but with NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar and Sena (UBT) Uddhav Thackeray warming up to the BJP, this will prove difficult.

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