Maharashtra To Go Delhi’s Way? Sharad Pawar Asks Party Workers To Be Ready For Snap Polls

The Devendra Fadnavis-led BJP government in Maharashtra might have the same fate as that of Arvind Kejriwal in Delhi. In a veiled threat to less than three-week old Fadnavis government, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) president Sharad Pawar has asked his party workers to be ready for snap polls in Maharashtra.

"We have to be ready to face snap polls in Maharashtra," he said while addressing a two-day party meeting in Maharashtra's Raigad district. "Having a stable government in Maharashtra isn't NCP's responsibility," he said. Earlier, his party had offered an unconditional outside support to BJP on the day the election results were declared.

The BJP government had won the trust vote in a controversial manner last week. The Speaker had conducted a voice vote in spite of demands of division of votes by the Congress and Shiv Sena.

However, this threat might be a blessing in disguise for the BJP-Shiv Sena relationship. The BJP government will become dependent on Shiv Sena’s support in case the NCP withdraws its support. The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) has also taken up the responsibility of bringing together the estranged partners. RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat had a talk with Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray in this regard. Bhagwat is also likely to talk to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, when he returns from his foreign visit on Thursday.

RSS, too, is reportedly unhappy with the BJP for taking the support of the NCP as most of its leaders are tainted and face various corruption allegations.