NEW DELHI: BJP leader and Maharashtra deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis on Wednesday challenged Sharad Pawar, who remains the fulcrum of opposition in the state, to declare Maha Vikas Aghadi’s CM face for the November 20 assembly elections. On the issue of ruling Mahayuti‘s CM face, Fadnavis hinted at Shiv Sena‘s Eknath Shinde but evaded a direct reply on who would lead the ruling coalition in the polls.
“Don’t worry about the ruling Mahayuti, our chief minister is sitting here. I challenge Pawar Saheb to announce MVA‘s face for the CM post,” said Fadnavis at a press conference when asked about the CM face for the polls. Fadnavis’s response “our chief minister is sitting here” was a “statement of fact” as Maharashtra chief minister Eknath Shinde was indeed sitting next to him during the press conference. But the senior and seasoned BJP leader, who has himself been the chief minister of the state for 5 years from 2014 to 2019 and a strong contender for the top post, evaded any direct reply.
Shinde, who was made the chief minister in June 2022 in a surprise move by the BJP leadership despite Shiv Sena being the junior partner of the alliance, also spoke on the issue of CM face and said, “Our two years of work and performance is the face of our alliance. The MVA should announce their face as the leader of the opposition.”
Interestingly, some NCP leaders have also pitched for Ajit Pawar, who is the third partner of the ruling Mahayuti, as the CM face. However, given the dominance of BJP and Shiv Sena in the Mahayuti, Ajit Pawar may have to continue to contend with being the deputy chief minister (a post he has held for record number of times) if the ruling coalition is indeed voted back to power.
And while the BJP national leadership will likely have the final say on who leads the Mahayuti in Maharashtra, the question of CM face will be equally or rather more tricky for the MVA. Shiv Sena (UBT) has been pushing for declaring Uddhav Thackeray as the opposition’s CM face as he had led the MVA government for over two years before it lost majority.
Uddhav, had on Sunday said “Let Mahayuti announce their CM face first then we will let you all know who is our CM face. Being in government, Mahayuti should announce their CM face first.”
Uddhav wants allies Congress and NCP (SP) of Sharad Pawar to announce CM face before the elections and not wait for the results. He also claimed that he is ready to back any leader declared by the allies in the interest of Maharashtra.
“I had said this then and I say it now that the Congress should declare a face or NCP (SP) should do it. The Congress, NCP (SP) should speak in unison. I will support any face declared by them because my Maharashtra is dear to me. I want to see the interests of Maharashtra. My resolve is to do anything to save Maharashtra,” Thackeray had said last week.
In August, the Shiv Sena (UBT) president had insisted on deciding MVA’s chief ministerial face first rather than going by the logic of who wins most seats, and asserted he would back any candidate announced by the Congress and the NCP (SP) for the top post. However, the Congress and the NCP (SP) had then made it clear they did not want to wade into this territory (CM face) till the assembly poll results were out.
The Congress, which performed well in the Lok Sabha elections, would be hopeful of a strong show in the assembly elections as well and may not want to commit to supporting Uddhav’s candidature before the results are out. However, the party’s electoral reverses in Haryana may have wiped away any bargaining chip it may have had after its Lok Sabha success.
So, will the upcoming assembly elections become a leadership battle as well as a grudge battle, between the two factions of the Shiv Sena? Well, this suspense may not end anytime soon as both Mahayuti and MVA gear up for the Maha battle.