The state of Maharashtra has been in the news for the past few months due to the ongoing political crisis. The crisis began after the results of the Maharashtra Assembly elections were announced in October 2019. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) emerged as the single largest party with 105 seats, followed by Shiv Sena with 56 seats. However, neither party was able to form a government on its own.
The BJP and Shiv Sena had been allies for over three decades, but their alliance broke down over the issue of the chief ministerial post. Shiv Sena demanded that the chief minister’s post be shared between the two parties for two and a half years each, while the BJP refused to agree to this demand. As a result, Shiv Sena decided to break away from the alliance and explore other options.
Shiv Sena then entered into an alliance with the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and the Indian National Congress (INC) to form a government in Maharashtra. Uddhav Thackeray, the leader of Shiv Sena, was sworn in as the chief minister of Maharashtra on November 28, 2019.
However, the BJP did not give up its efforts to form a government in Maharashtra. In November 2019, Devendra Fadnavis was sworn in as the chief minister of Maharashtra in a surprise move. However, his government lasted only 80 hours as he failed to prove his majority in the assembly.
The political crisis in Maharashtra continued as Shiv Sena, NCP, and INC struggled to keep their alliance intact. In July 2020, there were reports of a rift between Shiv Sena and NCP over the issue of transfer of police officers. However, the alliance managed to survive this crisis.
In October 2020, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) conducted raids at the residence of Shiv Sena MLA Pratap Sarnaik in connection with a money laundering case. This led to a war of words between Shiv Sena and BJP, with Shiv Sena accusing the BJP of using central agencies to target its leaders.
The political crisis in Maharashtra took a new turn in November 2020 when former Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh accused Home Minister Anil Deshmukh of corruption. This led to demands for Deshmukh’s resignation from the opposition parties as well as some sections of the ruling alliance.
The crisis deepened further when the Bombay High Court ordered a CBI probe into the allegations against Deshmukh. Shiv Sena, NCP, and INC initially defended Deshmukh, but later agreed to his resignation.
The political crisis in Maharashtra has highlighted the importance of alliances in Indian politics. It has also raised questions about the role of central agencies in targeting opposition leaders. The crisis is far from over, and it remains to be seen how it will play out in the coming months.
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