Maharashtra

IN Maharashtra, the BJP once again successfully orchestrated its “Operation Lotus” formula with clinical precision, resulting in the downfall of the Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (“The toppling game”, July 29). That the BJP was able to install a new government, led by Eknath Shinde, sent shock waves through Thackeray’s Shiv Sena faction. Although, the coup or putsch in Maharashtra was part of a long-drawn-out strategy, it is the timing that matters the most.

The BJP’S toppling agenda in Maharashtra has similarities to what happened in Goa, Manipur, and Karnataka, and involved transgressions of all the canons of the democratic ethos.

With the backing of the RSS, the BJP is capable of initiating splits, mergers, and defections in opposition-ruled States, and installing a Hindutva style of governance everywhere.