What Ajit Dada’s Told Fadnavis Before Quitting as Dy CM
MUMNAI : It did not take long after the Supreme Court verdict for the BJP to realise that its options were limited, sources say. Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Ajit Pawar, who was sworn in as deputy to Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, had failed to bring in MLAs to help the BJP touch majority in Maharashtra.
Soon after taking oath with Devendra Fadnavis in a surprise early morning swearing-in, Ajit Pawar had announced that all NCP MLAs including his uncle Sharad Pawar were with him in supporting a “stable” government. In a matter of four days, that was proved wrong again and again, as “missing” NCP lawmakers kept returning, some of them alleging they were tricked into attending the oath ceremony.
The government formation was challenged in Supreme Court by the Shiv Sena-NCP-Congress alliance that accused the BJP of operating stealthily and taking power in the dead of night. Sources say the BJP, based on Ajit Pawar’s reassurances, hoped to have enough MLAs on its side by the time a trust vote was called for.
But this morning, the Supreme Court ordered an “immediate” floor test, to be telecast live, so that Mr Fadnavis could prove his majority in the assembly. “If the floor test is delayed, there is a possibility of horse-trading, it becomes incumbent upon the Court to act to protect democratic values,” said the court.
The top court also ordered an open ballot instead of a secret one which affected the BJP’s strategy – it was hoping that the NCP MLAs supporting Ajit Pawar would vote in support of the confidence motion. The top court also ordered an open ballot instead of a secret one, in a blow to the BJP. The party, sources said, was hoping that the NCP MLAs loyal to Ajit Pawar would be more comfortable if the voting was kept secret.
Ajit Pawar, according to sources, threw in his towel and told the BJP it would be impossible to win over so many MLAs by tomorrow. News of his resignation emerged after his one-hour meeting with Mr Fadnavis.
The Supreme Court also said the trust vote would be conducted by a Pro-Tem or temporary Speaker, not a permanent Speaker as the government had asked for. Tough ruling gave the BJP no room to manoeuvre, even though as single largest party, it believed it had the strongest claim to power. So far, Ajit Pawar’s promise of getting a large chunk of NCP MLAs had not worked out.
Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar on Tuesday resigned from the post ahead of the floor test in the Assembly, setting Twitter abuzz with humorous memes, clippings and comments. Hashtag Ajit Pawar Resigns was trending with 1,830 tweets, with users quoting various media reports on the issue.
One post had a clipping of men dancing merrily along with the caption: “Sanjay Raut’s reaction after Ajit Pawar resigns.” In one clipping, a man was seen cartwheeling while dancing. One user posted a meme of a crying Bollywood actress with a caption: “We still needed more humiliation”.
One meme was of a Hollywood actor. He wrote: “Ajit Pawar resigns as Deputy CM and re-signs with NCP and his uncle Sharad pawar. Will NCP now say ‘Come join us’.” One netizen posted a clipping from a Hollywood movie with the caption: “Let the campaign begin.” He wrote: “Ajit Pawar resigns as the Deputy Chief Minister the day after a case he was accused in was closed. Things just get spiced up”.
Another wrote: “Yesterday: Ajit Pawar gets clean cheat (sic) in the irrigation scam. Today: Ajit Pawar resigns as Deputy CM.”A post had a morose-looking man standing akimbo along with the caption ‘public’ and a timeline of the developments that took place in Maharashtra for government formation since November 23.
One post was critical of the BJP moves on new government in the state, with one commenting: “Tables have turned … Ajit Pawar resigns as Deputy CM, CM Fadnavis to brief media at 3:30pm.”
(Bureau Report with Agency Inputs ).
