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Amid speculation that there could be changes at the top after the Ajit Pawar-led NCP faction joined the Maharashtra government, BJP leaders on Wednesday said the party does not have any plan to replace Eknath Shinde from the post of chief minister for the time being, and that the party plans to fight the upcoming elections under the “trio”.
“The BJP wants to weaken the MVA (alliance of NCP, Congress and Shiv Sena) with the trio of Shinde, Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar. We want to fight both Lok Sabha and Assembly polls in 2024 under this leadership. We think it’s a formidable force,” a top source in the party said.
With Ajit Pawar’s remarks on Wednesday that he wants to be the “Chief Minister some day” creating a flutter in political circles, the source, asked about the comment, said, “What else could he have said when asked whether he wants to be CM.”
The remark, however, has made the Shinde camp, which is eagerly waiting for the verdict on disqualification complaint against its MLAs, nervous. It has also set off speculation among a section in BJP which has been uncomfortable over Shinde being offered the post of CM despite leading a smaller group of MLAs. Under pressure from the Uddhav Thackeray-led Sena (UBT), MLAs and MPs who had jumped ship to the Shinde camp have also been impatient about the delay in their representatives getting ministerial berths at the Centre.
A section in the BJP looks up to Ajit Pawar as its Maratha face, as the party still has not been able to nurse a strong leader from the community in its top ranks. When Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil, a multiple-term MLA and a prominent Maratha leader, joined BJP from the Congress in 2019, the party wanted him to be its Maratha face. However, sources in BJP said, Patil could not come up to its expectations.
There have been complaints from party leaders that Patil was trying to take control of the Maratha lobby but not working in BJP’s interests, it is learnt. When Shinde joined hands with BJP, the party’s hopes were on his ability to snatch Maratha votes from the Sena and the NCP.
According to a party leader, Shinde “created discomfort” for many in BJP and “tried to hog the limelight, always sidelining the BJP.” Ajit Pawar will be a more endearing face with a wider appeal among voters, a section of leaders contend. “If you ask any BJP worker or supporter, he or she will say Ajit Pawar is more accepted than Shinde,” a BJP leader from Maharashtra said.
But BJP leaders at the national level pointed out that Shinde cannot be “ditched” since he had come to the NDA with 40 MLAs after breaking the Sena. While Shinde was brought into BJP with direct supervision of Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis played a key role in roping in Ajit Pawar and his MLAs, sources said. “Sidelining him at this juncture does not send a good message about the BJP, when we are preparing for key elections. It will dent our credibility,” a leader said, referring to BJP’s attempts to expand the NDA with more alliance partners from various states ahead of the Lok Sabha polls.
