Redundant Bihar model, here's why BJP must insist on its Maharashtra chief minister

Last update:November 26, 2024, 10:47 AM IST

Unlike Nitish Kumar in Bihar in 2020, no promise was made to Eknath Shinde by the BJP that he would remain chief minister, whatever the number.

In the Indian Constitution, there is no concept of Deputy Chief Minister. This is a position “created” in recent years to keep a close coalition partner or party colleague in good spirits.

But in Maharashtra, the BJP should by no means settle for a deputy CM post.

There are three main reasons why the party must insist on having its own chief minister.

First, the BJP has 132 seats and at least five other winners, who either as independents have announced their support for the BJP or are from the party that contested on the symbol of its allies. This brings the BJP’s total to 137, just eight short of the majority, and two and a half times that of Eknath Shinde. People have given the BJP an overwhelming mandate, which must be respected.

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Secondly, Maharashtra cannot follow the Bihar model advocated by the Shinde camp, as the circumstances in the two states are totally different. Unlike Nitish Kumar in Bihar during the 2020 elections, the BJP did not make any promises to Eknath Shinde that he would continue as chief minister after the 2024 elections, whatever the numbers.

Third, the BJP must not ignore the demand of state cadres and leaders, lest it risk a “Pawar crisis” by not choosing its own chief minister. This should not create another Nitish Kumar out of Shinde, but rather bring him in in a way that does not offend the Maratha community and Shinde himself proposes the name of Devendra Fadnavis as the next CM.

Why Maharashtra is not like Bihar

Let’s start with the second reason. The BJP has played second fiddle to the JDU in Bihar since 2005 till date, almost two decades, settling for the post of deputy CM. Indeed, the JDU won more seats than the BJP in the 2005, 2010 and 2015 elections. In 2015, the BJP did not actually come to power because the JDU had allied with the RJD before Nitish Kumar came to power. later joined hands with the BJP, which again settled for the post of Deputy CM.

In the 2020 elections, the BJP announced before the elections that whoever among them wins the most seats, Nitish Kumar will be the chief minister. The BJP kept that promise, despite winning almost 30 more seats than the JDU, and Kumar is still the CM.

But the BJP made no such promise to Eknath Shinde during the Maharashtra election campaign. Home Minister Amit Shah has repeatedly made it clear that even if the elections were held under the leadership of CM Shinde, the designation of the next chief minister would be taken after the elections.

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Furthermore, the BJP won more seats than the unified Shiv Sena in 2014 (122 against 63) and Devendra Fadnavis became the chief minister. In 2019, the BJP was again the largest party with 105 seats. Shinde, with less than half of these MLAs, joined the BJP in 2022 and was made the chief minister.

Senior NCP leader Praful Patel told CNN-News18 on Monday that what happened in 2022 was “different circumstances” and “BJP is the largest party in these elections”.

He was perhaps referring to the fact that Shinde was to be rewarded by the BJP in 2022 with the CM’s post as he had actually helped form the government and Fadnavis was forced to make the ‘sacrifice’ by demoting himself to the rank of deputy of the CM. These were rather special circumstances.

But today the BJP is back with an even bigger mandate. The Bihar-Maharashtra equivalence simply does not hold water.

Look at the numbers

With 132 seats, the BJP recorded its best performance in the state and a near majority on its own. Such a huge mandate for the party, with a strike rate of almost 85 per cent, shows how much people have trusted the BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s message.

The RSS has thrown its support behind the BJP’s campaign, as well as Devendra Fadnavis, who arguably has the best links with the Sangh in the state, besides Nitin Gadkari.

Several BJP leaders in the state this correspondent spoke to said the cadres would be disheartened if the BJP does not install its own chief minister after such a term. To quote a senior party leader: “If we don’t get a CM from the BJP even after winning 132 seats, which is barely 12 short of the majority on our own, when will we achieve it? »

The BJP always had ambitions to take over the leadership of Maharashtra, away from the ‘Matoshree’ influence that the party’s early state leaders, like Pramod Mahajan, seemed to be afflicted with. This is one of the reasons why the BJP took the big decision in 2019 not to succumb to Uddhav Thackeray’s demands for the CM chair and remained out of power till 2022.

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The current mandate gives the BJP its best chance to roll out its big development agenda in Maharashtra with a truly dual engine: the Prime Minister and its own CM.

Keeping the flock together

The BJP must also keep in mind that Ajit Pawar supported Devendra Fadnavis and may not be comfortable with Shinde as chief minister again. While Shinde now has 57 MLAs, Ajit Pawar has 41 and is also the senior-most politician among the three.

Clearly, the BJP has to walk a delicate rope to convince Shinde that he must respect the sentiments of BJP cadres and make way for a BJP chief minister.

What could sweeten the deal for Shinde? Perhaps big portfolios for him in the state as deputy CM and ministerial posts at the Center as so far only one of his seven MLAs has been inducted into the Council of Ministers.

The delay in announcing the next chief minister can be explained by the possibility of the BJP taking its time in bringing in Shinde. He would not want to offend the Maratha community in any way and would in fact want Shinde to propose Fadnavis’ name as the next chief minister.

Can the BJP do it? For the sake of fulfilling the public mandate, the BJP must succeed.

Election news Redundant Bihar model, here’s why BJP must insist on its Maharashtra chief minister