Modi’s party makes surprise comeback in western state
Mumbai, India - Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s party made an unexpected comeback to power on Saturday in the wealthy Maharashtra state, home to the country’s financial capital, after prolonged backroom negotiations saw presidential rule lifted after days of uncertainty.
President Ram Nath Kovind imposed direct rule on India’s richest state last week after fiercely fought elections last month led to weeks of haggling between parties over forming a government.
The state was previously ruled by Modi’s Hindu nationalist
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its rightwing regional ally Shiv Sena.
But they failed to agree another power-sharing deal despite results showing the coalition had won a comfortable majority for a second consecutive term.
Shiv Sena quit the partnership, hoping to convince their ideological rivals, the centre-left Indian National Congress, and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) to form a government instead.
In the end though the BJP pulled off a major upset by joining hands with a top NCP leader to form a coalition, announcing the deal on Saturday.
“The state is suffering from farmer problems. The instability in the state is not good for the development of the state. It was important to form the government. Ajit dada (Ajit Pawar) came with us and we approached the Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari and claimed to form the government. The President’s rule was removed and we decided to take oath today itself,”
said BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis, after taking oath as Chief Minister of the state, the ANI news agency reported.
NCP leader Ajit Pawar took oath as Deputy Chief Minister of the state.
Ajit Pawar is the nephew of the NCP leader Sharad Pawar.
“This bolsters the BJP and Modi’s image in the state and the country,” political commentator
Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay said.
“While there were some questions being raised about their loss of dominance following election results, this verdict will cement Modi and BJP’s control in the state,” the political commentator added.
The coalition still needs to prove its majority in the state legislature in a week’s time in order to stay in power.
India has been battling an economic slowdown, and the imposition of presidential rule was a setback for Modi and for Mumbai, which is home to business tycoons, the stock market and the glitzy Bollywood film industry.
Under India’s constitution, New Delhi can take direct control of a state in the absence of a local government and after obtaining consent from the President.
Congress leader party Ahmed Patel said on Saturday that they would put up ‘a political and legal challenge’ at the manner in which a BJP-led government was sworn-in in Maharashtra under a shroud of secrecy at dawn on Saturday, The Times of India daily reported.
After Ajit defected from the party and became the Deputy Chief Minister, the NCP party chief Sharad Pawar said it would be hard for the BJP government to prove majority in a floor test,
The Hindu daily reported. “We are together and we remain together with Shiv Sena from here,” Pawar said addressing a joint press meet with Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray in Mumbai.
The instability in the state is not good for the development of the state
Devendra Fadnavis