Did Uddhav Thackeray try to broker a deal with Fadnavis for BJP’s support before the Maharashtra crisis?
Former Chief Minister of Maharashtra Uddhav Thackeray had, allegedly, reached out to BJP leader and current Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra Devendra Fadnavis after the former realised that the big split was unavoidable.
According to a source, Uddhav Thackeray personally spoke to Fadnavis and proposed that the BJP should deal directly with him so that the entire party could come with them rather than give support to Eknath Shinde. However, the BJP leader refused the proposal.
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This was a one-on-one conversation between Fadnavis and Thackeray, sources claimed.
Uddhav allegedly made calls to Prime Minister Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah. However, they didn’t respond. Apparently, the BJP top leadership had tried to reach out to Uddhav in 2019 but he had turned down any dialogue.
The BJP decided that they wanted the Sena minus Uddhav. After that, some of the MPs who recently wrote to Uddhav to support Murmu were requested by the Sena chief to assist in mediation. When they met Uddhav, he told them that his attempts to reach out to the BJP had failed to yield any result. Even the MPs did not get any response from the BJP leadership.
Some Sena activists are also said to have reached out to Eknath Shinde, claiming to be carrying Rashmi Thackeray’s message. But Shinde is unlikely to patch up as it has no clearance from the BJP leadership.
It all started when the then CM of Maharashtra, Uddhav Thackeray, suspected cross-voting in Legislative Council elections and called an urgent meeting of all Shiv Sena MLAs. However, Shiv Sena leader and minister Eknath Shinde was untraceable, along with 11 MLAs.
Both the BJP and Shinde denied the former’s involvement in the rebellion even as Shiv Sena demanded the disqualification of rebel MLAs. The request was submitted to the Deputy Speaker.
Meanwhile, BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis met Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari and handed him a letter seeking a floor test in the state Assembly. Following the appeal by the BJP, Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari issued directions to the government to prove its majority in the state Assembly on June 30.
Soon after, Fadnavis announced Eknath Shinde as the next Maharashtra Chief Minister, while also stating that he would not be part of the state government. BJP President J P Nadda then directed Fadnavis to be part of the Maharashtra government led by Shinde.
