Devendra Fadnavis’ tenure as Maharashtra’s deputy chief minister must have been very distressing. He clearly didn’t like many of the decisions made by then-chief minister Eknath Shinde. Now that he is the CM, Fadnavis has ordered a series of inquiries into decisions taken by the Shinde-led government—from the buses-on-rent scheme to the purchase of ambulances and medical equipment, the procurement of school uniforms, and, most recently, a housing project in Jalna.
The chatter in Maharashtra’s ruling party circles is that the government is also looking into the dealings of a real estate developer who was close to Shinde. This is happening when Fadnavis hasn’t yet completed 12 weeks of his second term as CM. One can only imagine how unhappy he must have been as Shinde’s deputy. Now the shoe is on the other foot, and Shinde is feeling the pinch.
There is seldom a day when the CM doesn’t show Shinde who is now the boss—whether it is through the appointment of guardian ministers, the proposed review of schemes initiated or backed by the Shinde-led government, or the scaling down of the security cover given to Sena MLAs, and so on.
On Friday in Nagpur, Shinde reiterated that people should not take him “halke mein (lightly)”.
No prize for guessing whom the message was intended for. There are obvious reasons for Fadnavis to turn the heat on Shinde—simply because he can. The BJP is just 13 MLAs short of a majority on its own, while Shinde’s Shiv Sena has 57 members and Ajit Pawar’s Nationalist Congress Party has 41. Shinde may be ideologically a natural ally, but he is ambitious and by no means a pushover. Ajit Pawar can’t afford to lose the BJP’s patronage, especially with uncle Sharad Pawar still biding his time. With Shinde’s claims over Bal Thackeray’s political legacy vindicated by the Assembly election result, he is looking to further expand the Sena’s footprint. A stronger Sena won’t suit the BJP, politically.
But Fadnavis’ grouse with Shinde may be more personal, starting with his demotion as deputy CM in the last government. Fadnavis is known as a control freak within his party circles. He kept every potential competitor in check—from Eknath Khadse to Vinod Tawde, Poonam Mahajan, Pankaja Munde, and others. How, then, can he make peace with a potentially formidable threat like Eknath Shinde, whose thrust on infrastructure development and welfare schemes—such as the Ladki Bahin scheme—clinched the election for the Mahayuti?
- Fadnavis has launched inquiries into key decisions by the Shinde-led government, covering schemes from buses-on-rent to housing projects.
- The rift highlights a broader struggle within the BJP, questioning the efficacy of Amit Shah’s command and control system.
- Political dynamics in Maharashtra are shifting, with internal party conflicts intensifying and key leaders at odds.
- The situation underscores the evolving power tussle between Fadnavis and Shinde, with wider implications for regional and national BJP leadership.
Also read: Rift within Mahayuti 2.0 widens as Fadnavis seeks to put his stamp on govt, Shinde continues to sulk
Amit Shah’s command and control system
In fact, the Fadnavis-Shinde rift leads into a larger story about the Bharatiya Janata Party—the malfunctioning of Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s command and control system. It’s no secret that Shinde enjoys Shah’s patronage. Some BJP insiders say that the high command initially wanted to make Shinde CM for a year after Mahayuti’s victory. But Fadnavis got his way. Now the CM has turned the heat on Shinde, wilfully ignoring his patrons. On Thursday, Shah held a meeting with Fadnavis and Shinde in Delhi to bring about a reconciliation between them. It obviously didn’t work, as Shinde was fuming the very next day about being taken lightly.
Why is Shah’s command and control system not working in Mumbai? It’s already broken in Lucknow, Yogi Adityanath’s territory—the latest evidence being that the Centre (read: Shah) has virtually lost its say in the appointment of the director general of police. The Adityanath government changed the appointment process a day after he met Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi to ostensibly get his approval.
It’s not just Lucknow and Mumbai. Shah’s command and control system shows signs of damage in several other states. In Manipur, a section of BJP MLAs forced the resignation of Shah-backed CM Biren Singh. Just think of Shah abandoning his protege out of fear that MLAs would vote in favour of a no-confidence motion if the Opposition brought one forward. Manipur is now under President’s Rule because the BJP high command, which changes CMs at will, can’t get MLAs to agree on a candidate.
In Karnataka, BJP MLA Basangouda Patil Yatnal and several other BJP leaders have waged war against state unit chief BY Vijayendra—ex-CM BS Yediyurappa’s son, who is backed by Amit Shah. The party served a show-cause notice to Yatnal last December. His close associates told this reporter that the MLA’s response was such a stinker that a senior party functionary from Delhi had to plead with him not to make it public and to send a milder reply. Although Yatnal did send a diluted response, he didn’t stop his attacks on Vijayendra.
On February 10, the party served a second notice to Yatnal. Similar notices were also sent on the same day to two other leaders: Haryana minister Anil Vij, who regularly took digs at CM Nayab Singh Saini and state BJP chief Mohan Lal Badoli; and Rajasthan minister Kirorilal Meena, who levelled phone-tapping charges against his own government. Meena’s resignation from the Cabinet has been pending since last June.
The BJP sent show-cause notices to Yatnal, Vij, and Meena shortly after the Delhi election results. The moot question is: When did the BJP high command begin to derive its moral authority from election successes in order to crack the whip on rebellious party leaders? The timing of these notices betrayed diffidence and a lack of conviction on the part of the BJP central leadership.
Numerous other examples exist of BJP leaders, MLAs, and MPs attacking their own governments. For instance, MLAs and ex-MLAs in Madhya Pradesh have been making headlines—one prostrating before a police official to seek protection from liquor mafia, another supporting the fellow legislator and party colleague and accusing the Mohan Yadav-led government of bowing before the mafia, and yet another accusing Union minister Virendra Kumar Khatik of appointing people with criminal backgrounds as his representatives in departments.
So, what’s happening in the BJP?
A third term in power at the Centre and historic wins in Haryana, Maharashtra, and Delhi should have made the party high command much stronger. Instead, it looks just the opposite. This brings us back to the question: Why is Amit Shah’s command and control system malfunctioning? Why is it that from Bengaluru to Mumbai, Lucknow, Jaipur, Bhopal, and elsewhere, BJP leaders are increasingly showing no fear of God? Shah’s grip is loosening as regional satraps virtually break free.
There could be several reasons. First, PM Modi might have taken fresh guard in his third innings with the appointment of a second principal secretary, Shaktikanta Das, on Saturday, but that will not stop preparations in various state capitals for an eventual war of succession.
Second, Shah’s apparent inability thus far to secure the nomination of his preferred candidate as Nadda’s successor creates the perception of a weakened high command. The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh is once again the ultimate arbiter. These factors have emboldened leaders—especially mass figures like Fadnavis, Adityanath, and Yatnal—to push back against the centralisation of power and authority.
Third, when personal loyalty and pliability become the most important criteria for promotion, the high command loses the moral authority to exercise its writ. And the list could go on.
Whatever the reasons may be, the fact remains that electoral victories can only paper over these cracks temporarily. They can’t change the underlying issues for good. For Shah to repair his command and control system, he must ensure that a loyalist becomes the next BJP president. His jurisdictional authority may face defiance in Mumbai and Lucknow today, but elsewhere, things haven’t reached a point of no return.
DK Singh is Political Editor at ThePrint. He tweets @dksingh73. Views are personal.
(Edited by Prashant)