The Burden Of Allies

The BJP ranks have not taken kindly to the party roping in the Ajit Pawar faction of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) into their alliance government in Maharashtra.

- Dhaval Kulkarni

For one, the party had to relinquish crucial portfolios like finance, cooperation, medical education and food and civil supplies to Ajit and his eight ministers. Then, BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis—who led the state from 201419—is playing second fiddle to Chief Minister Eknath Shinde. With Ajit also a deputy CM now, the role of Fadnavis has been circumscribed further. This is the first time that Maharashtra has had two deputy CMs. The claim by Ajit’s men that he will soon replace Shinde at the helm has muddied the waters further (though this has been denied by Fadnavis).

The BJP has the lowest MLA-to-ministers ratio in the state. The party has only 10 ministers, including Fadnavis, despite having 106 MLAs (not counting the support of the legislators from smaller parties and independents), while Shinde’s faction of the Shiv Sena has the same number of cabinet berths with 40 MLAs. Ajit, whose support base among the NCP’s 53 MLAs is still unclear, has nine ministers. There are chances the cabinet expansion to fill the 14 vacancies may be delayed now, considering the number of claimants in Shinde’s Sena. This means the wait will get even longer for the BJP’s ministerial hopefuls. “There is disgruntlement among our MLAs,” admits a senior BJP leader, “but the decision to take Ajit Pawar along has been prompted by the impending Lok Sabha election.”