Just when it seemed that the Congress, NCP and the Shiv Sena would form the government in Maharashtra, the BJP pulled a rabbit out of the bag, getting NCP leader Ajit Pawar to revolt against his uncle Sharad Pawar, which enabled Devendra Fadnavis to return as the Chief Minister for a second term early on Saturday morning.

But by night, the tables seemed to have turned against the unlikely Fadnavis-Ajit Pawar partnership, with Ajit Pawar being removed as the NCP’s legislature party leader and 50 of the 54 NCP MLAs backing party supremo Sharad Pawar.

The day began dramatically with Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar being sworn in as the CM and the Deputy CM respectively around 8 am, catching the Congress, NCP and the Sena off guard. Earlier, Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari burnt the midnight oil, asking his secretary at 2 am to send a report to the Centre for revocation of the President’s rule.

The necessity of the Union Cabinet’s recommendation to lift President’s Rule was bypassed with the Prime Minister using his special powers. President’s Rule was lifted at 5.47 am, clearing the way for the swearing-in of the Fadnavis-Ajit Pawar duo.

Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar were only playing out a plot that was scripted in New Delhi by BJP chief Amit Shah, hailed as the new Chanakya of Indian politics.

Such was the secrecy of the political machination that even Fadnavis was unaware of it until late on Friday night.

“The Maharashtra Governor was asked to stay put in Mumbai and cancel his plan to travel to the national capital for a meeting of the Governors. A top BJP leader made a final phone call to the Ajit Pawar late on Friday evening. Afterwards, both Fadnavis and Pawar were asked to reach Raj Bhavan separately,” sources said, adding that the BJP brass was working on the numbers to ensure stability of the new government.

The BJP brass, the sources said, was firm not to allow the Shiv Sena to form the government in the state with the support of the Congress and the NCP as that would have harmed the party’s strategy for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

Around 15 NCP MLAs were present at the swearing-in ceremony at Raj Bhavan. They later seemed to take a U-turn, complaining that they were misguided by Ajit Pawar and taken to the function.

Three of the MLAs even turned up at the joint Press conference by Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray and Sharad Pawar. The NCP leader made it clear that his nephew did not have his support and claimed that only 10-11 MLAs were with Ajit Pawar.

The NCP huddled together in the evening and removed Ajit Pawar as legislature party leader.
He was replaced by Sharad Pawar confidante and state party chief Jayant Patil. The party also revoked Ajit Pawar’s powers to issue a whip to party MLAs. However, his expulsion from the party was avoided.

“All our MLAs except five of total 54 MLAs are in touch with us,” Mumbai NCP chief Nawab Malik said after the meeting. He said the new government of Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar would not be able to prove its majority of the floor of the House.

Senior NCP leader Dhananjay Munde reportedly served as the link between Ajit Pawar and the BJP. Incidentally, Munde attended the NCP meeting in the evening to convey Ajit Pawar’s message that the party should support the BJP or prepare itself for a vertical split.

Many political observers said though the majority of its MLAs appear to have returned to the NCP’s fold, the real picture would be clear only during the floor test.

Signature Letter or attendance sheet?

The letter of support of NCP MLAs submitted by Ajit Pawar to back BJP government in Maharashtra was actually an attendance sheet of the party MLAs during a meeting. Being the NCP legislature party leader, Pawar had the attendance sheet and submitted it with his letter of support to the governor.