Part of Politics of Maharashtra | |
Date | June 21–30, 2022 (9 days) |
---|---|
Location | Mumbai, Maharashtra Guwahati, Assam Surat, Gujarat Panaji, Goa |
Type | Parliamentary political crisis |
Cause | Eknath Shinde's move to Surat, Gujarat and then to Guwahati, Assam with several MLAs |
Motive | To break the Maha Vikas Aghadi and reestablish BJP-Shiv Sena alliance |
Target | Maha Vikas Aghadi |
Participants | Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) Other political parties and Independents |
Outcome |
|
Followed by | 2019 Maharashtra political crisis |
Followed by | 2023 Maharashtra political crisis |
The 2022 Maharashtra political crisis began on 21 June 2022 in the Indian state of Maharashtra when Eknath Shinde, along with several other MLAs of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) coalition moved to Surat in the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-governed Gujarat, throwing the coalition into a crisis. [2] [3] [4]
The group later moved to Guwahati in another BJP-governed state, Assam. Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut accused BJP of causing the revolt within Shiv Sena and attempting to topple the MVA-coalition government, implicitly mentioned later in a remark by BJP's Sushil Modi. [5] [6] Eknath Shinde led a revolt against Uddhav Thackeray because he disagreed with Thackeray's decision not to end the alliance with Maha Vikas Aaghadi, despite requests from two-thirds of elected Shiv Sena members. Shinde's faction ultimately succeeded in taking control of the party and forming a new government in Maharashtra with the support of the BJP. [7]
On 29 June, Uddhav Thackeray, Chief Minister of Maharashtra, resigned from the post as well as a MLC member while speaking live on social media ahead of a no-confidence motion on 29 June 2022. [8] The resignation of Thackeray saw the cancellation of the floor test, with Shinde taking stake of the government as the Chief Minister and Devendra Fadnavis as the Deputy Chief Minister on 30 June.
A Supreme Court judgement on 11 May 2023 stated that the Maharashtra governor Bhagat Singh Koshiyari and the Maharashtra Assembly speaker Rahul Narwekar did not act as per the law, but the Uddhav Thackeray government cannot be restored due to Uddhav's resignation which led to cancellation of floor test. [9] [10]
In the 2019 Maharashtra Legislative Assembly elections, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Shiv Sena (SHS) contested the election jointly under the alliance Mahayuti. Indian National Congress (INC) and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) fought under the alliance Maha Aghadi. [3]
BJP won 105 seats, Shiv Sena won 56 seats, NCP won 54 seats and INC won 44 seats. After the declaration of results of the Maharashtra elections, differences arose between Shiv Sena and BJP on the power-sharing arrangement. Shiv Sena demanded an equal share in power which was allegedly agreed upon by the BJP, (which BJP leaders including Amit Shah had denied publicly). Shiv Sena demanded the post of Chief Minister for 2.5 years according to alleged 50-50 agreement. [11] [12] The incumbent CM from BJP, Devendra Fadnavis denied any such formula had been agreed upon. BJP eventually ended breaking ties with one of their oldest ally Shiv Sena. Shiv Sena then declined to support the BJP to form the government. The 2019 Maharashtra political crisis ensued.
Eventually Shiv Sena joined the Maha Aghadi alliance of INC and NCP to form the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) alliance with a combined seat count of 154 seats where 145 seats were needed for majority. [3] The MVA alliance decided to form the government under the leadership of Uddhav Thackeray as the Chief minister. [2] [3]
Eknath Shinde was in favor of breaking the Maha Vikas Aghadi and reestablishing BJP-Shiv Sena coalition. He requested Uddhav Thackeray to break the alliance and his request was ignored on multiple occasions. He gathered 2/3rd members from his party to support his request and 2022 Maharashtra political crisis started. [13]
On 10 June 2022, the infighting in the party got highlighted for the first time when BJP won 3 out of 6 seats in the Rajya Sabha elections. On 20 June 2022, out of 10 seats going for Maharashtra Legislative Council elections, Shiv Sena and its allies were expected to win 6 seats, however they only won 5. BJP won the other 5 seats reportedly due to cross voting by several Shiv Sena members. [3] [5]
Immediately after the Legislative council election results, Eknath Shinde, a senior Shiv Sena leader, disappeared and could not be contacted. [5] On 21 June 2022, a meeting was called by Uddhav Thackeray with all his MLAs but 10-12 MLAs were also found unreachable. [14] 11 MLAs of the Shiv Sena, led by Shinde, flew to Surat city, in the BJP governed state of Gujarat. Shinde was removed from the post of the Shiv Sena party whip. Shinde removed the word Shiv Sena from his Twitter profile. In his hotel in Surat he had several meetings with the BJP leaders. [5]
To prevent further loss of MLAs, Shiv Sena housed the rest of its MLAs in several hotels in Mumbai. [3] Soon Shinde claimed that he commanded the support of "nearly 40 MLAs". [15] Shinde required support of 37 MLAs (two-thirds of the total strength of 55) to avoid being disqualified under the Anti-defection laws in India. [5] Shinde demanded Thackeray break the Maha Vikas Aghadi and re-join the alliance with the BJP. [16]
On 22 June, Shinde said that he had moved 40 legislators to Guwahati, Assam. Several INC and NCP leaders criticized Himanta Biswa Sarma, CM of Assam, for interfering in Maharashtra politics instead of focusing on the massive flood in Assam. [15] [17] Sarma denied the knowledge of Shinde and his stay with the other rebel MLAs in Guwahati. [18]
After failing to convince Shinde to return to Mumbai, on 22 June, Uddhav Thackeray, Chief Minister of Maharashtra, declared that he was ready to step down as the leader of the alliance and as Chief Minister. [19] [20] Later that day, Uddhav Thackeray moved from the residence of the CM Varsha to his private residence, Matoshree. [21] [22] [4]
Senior Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut accused the BJP of causing the revolt within Shiv Sena and attempting to topple the MVA coalition government. [5] The leadership of Shiv Sena has accused the BJP of bribing nearly ₹40 crore (US$4.8 million) to each its lawmakers for creating the mutiny. [23] Shiv Sena MLA Udaysingh Rajput said that he was offered ₹50 crore (US$6.0 million) in cash to join the rebel group but he declined. [24] [25]
On 23 June, Shinde and 37 MLAs declared Shinde leader of the Shiv Sena legislature party. [26] [27] On 24 June, Shiv Sena filed a petition against the rebel MLAs and demanded the Deputy speaker Narahari Zirwal of Maharashtra Assembly to disqualify 16 MLAs of the Shinde camp. Zirwal met with Shiv Sena leaders and later also met with the Advocate General of Maharashtra for legal opinion. Both Thackeray and Shinde camp leaders were asked to present their arguments about the disqualification. A No-confidence motion against Zirwal was brought by two independent MLAs supporting BJP. [28] This no-confidence vote signed by 34 MLAs was rejected by Zirwal reportedly because the petition was sent through an anonymous e-mail and not submitted by an MLA himself. [29]
On the same day, Eknath Shinde, Home minister Amit Shah and former chief minister Devendra Fadnavis met in Vadodara, Gujarat reportedly to plan a merger or coalition to topple the MVA government. [30] The office of a rebel Shiv Sena leader was allegedly vandalized by members of the Shiv Sena. [31]
On 26 June, Eknath Shinde moved to the Supreme Court of India to dispute the rejection of the no-confidence vote against the Deputy speaker, and challenge the disqualification plea against 16 of them. [32] [33] According to Shiv Sena at least 20 MLAs in Shinde's camp were communicating with Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray. Some of them did not support merging the breakaway group with the BJP. [32]
On 27 June, during the hearing in the Supreme Court of India, the court directed the Deputy speaker to postpone the next hearing to July 11 to give time to the rebel MLAs. It also asked Deputy Speaker Zirwal to file a detailed affidavit about the no-confidence motion against him. During the hearing, when asked about the rebels approach to the Bombay High Court, the rebel counsel responded that “Threats to us and our families make it non-conducive to pursue cases in Mumbai." [34]
On 28 June, Devendra Fadnavis met Governor of Maharashtra Bhagat Singh Koshyari and demanded a motion of no confidence against Uddhav Thackeray. [35] On 29 June, Koshiyari ordered a trust vote motion to be held and the assembly strength of the government be proven by 30 June. Shiv Sena immediately moved to the Supreme court against this order. [36] On the same day, the supreme court refused to stay the no-confidence motion and ordered it to be conducted the next day on 30 June stating that “The floor of the House is the only way to settle all issues.” [37] [38] A few hours later, Uddhav Thackeray resigned from the post of Chief Minister of Maharashtra and said that he will also resign from the Maharashtra Legislative Council after the supreme court decision while addressing on social media. [39] [40]
On 17 February 2023, the Electoral Commission allotted the name Shiv Sena and the party symbol of bow and arrow to Eknath Shinde's faction. This officially concluded the political crisis and officially defined Eknath Shinde as the sole leader of Shiv Sena. [41]
On 30 June, Shinde and Fadnavis staked the claim to form the government and declared Eknath Shinde Chief Minister of Maharashtra. Fadnavis at the press conference declared that the majority party, BJP, would sit out and support the government under Shinde but would not be part of the government. This led to reactions, with the BJP President JP Nadda requesting him to take charge as the Deputy Chief Minister of the state and become part of the government. [42] Later that day Eknath Shinde and Devendra Fadnavis took oath as the Chief Minister and next Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra respectively. [43]
Members of Maharashtra Legislative Assembly by their political party (as of 1 July 2022 [update] ):
Alliance | Party | No.of MLAs | Leader of the Party | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Government National Democratic Alliance Seats: 167 | BJP | 106 | ![]() | ||
SHS | 40 | ![]() | |||
BVA | 3 | Hitendra Thakur | |||
PJP | 2 | Bachchu Kadu | |||
RSP | 1 | Ratnakar Gutte | |||
JSS | 1 | Vinay Kore | |||
MNS | 1 | Pramod Ratan Patil | |||
PWPI | 1 | Shyamsundar Shinde | |||
IND | 12 | - | |||
Opposition United Progressive Alliance , | NCP | 53 | ![]() | ||
INC | 44 | Balasaheb Thorat | |||
SHS (UBT) | 16 | Ajay Choudhari | |||
SWP | 1 [44] | Devendra Mahadevrao Bhuyar | |||
CPI(M) | 1 | Vinod Bhiva Nikole | |||
IND | 1 [44] | - | |||
Others Seats: 04 | AlMIM | 2 | Mohammed Ismail Abdul Khalique | ||
SP | 2 | ![]() | |||
Vacant | 1 | ||||
Total | 288 |
A Supreme Court judgement on 11 May 2023 termed the actions of then Maharashtra governor Bhagat Singh Koshiyari and the assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar during the crisis as illegal. According to the judgement, the governor called for floor test without receiving any communication from the rebel Shiv Sena MLAs about their withdrawal of support of Uddhav Thackeray government. The court also said that Eknath Shinde faction cannot be labeled as "split" and are liable to be disqualified as MLAs for defection. [10]
Further, the judgement stated that it cannot reinstate Uddhav Thackeray government because Uddhav resigned without facing the floor test at that time. Had Uddhav not resign from his chief minister post, his government could have been reinstated. [45] [10] [46]
Shiv Sena is a right-wing Marathi regionalist and Hindu ultranationalist political party in India founded in 1966 by Bal Thackeray. Currently led by Eknath Shinde, this party is the ruling party of the Indian state of Maharashtra since 2019. Shiv Sena's election symbol is the Bow and Arrow. It uses the saffron colour in its flag and a image of a roaring tiger.
The Nationalist Congress Party is one of the state parties in India. It refers to the Ajit Pawar faction after the 2023 split in the party when the Supreme Court of India granted the original party name and symbol to the Nationalist Congress Party. It was one of the major political parties in Maharashtra and was a recognised state party in Nagaland and Kerala. In July 2023, majority of the elected MLAs and MLCs of the party led by Ajit Pawar joined the National Democratic Alliance government, however, all MPs except two remained loyal to Sharad Pawar. This caused a direct split between the Ajit Pawar-led faction and the founder and president Sharad Pawar who formed the Nationalist Congress Party after EC recognised the Ajit Pawar faction as the original party.
Uddhav Bal Thackeray is an Indian politician who served as the 19th Chief Minister of Maharashtra from 2019 to 2022 and the Leader of the House, Maharashtra Legislative Assembly from 2019 to 2022. He is a member of Maharashtra Legislative Council since 2020, the president of Maha Vikas Aghadi since 2019 and the president of Shiv Sena (UBT) since 2022. He was also the leader (pramukh) of Shiv Sena from 2013 to 2022, working President from 2003 to 2013 and the editor-in-chief of Saamana from 2006 to 2019.
Ajit Anantrao Pawar is an Indian politician who is currently serving, alongside Devendra Fadnavis, the Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra from 2 July 2023. He served as the Leader of the Opposition in the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly from 2022 to 2023, and was a Member of the Parliament in the Lok Sabha in 1991, representing Baramati constituency. He has also been a member of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly since 1991, representing Baramati constituency.
Maharashtra is India's third largest state by area and has over 112 million inhabitants. Its capital, Mumbai, has a population of approximately 18 million; Nagpur is Maharashtra's second, or winter, capital. Government in the state is organized on the parliamentary system. Power is devolved to large city councils, district councils, subdistrict (taluka) councils, and village parish councils. The numerically strong Maratha–Kunbi community dominates the state's politics. The state has national and regional parties serving different demographics, such as those based on religion, caste, and urban and rural residents.
Although a parliamentary democracy, Indian politics has increasingly become dynastic, possibly due to the absence of a party organization, independent civil society associations that mobilize support for the party, and centralized financing of elections. Family members have also led the Congress party for most of the period since 1978 when Indira Gandhi floated the then Congress(I) faction of the party. It also is fairly common in many political parties in Maharashtra. The dynastic phenomenon is seen from national level down to district level and even village level.The three-tier structure of Panchayati Raj established in the 1960s also helped to create and consolidate the dynastic phenomenon in rural areas. Apart from government,political families also control cooperative institutions, mainly cooperative sugar factories,district cooperative banks in the state, and since the 1980s private for profit colleges. The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party also features several senior leaders who are dynasts. In Maharashtra, the NCP has particularly high level of dynasticism.
Eknath Sambhaji Shinde is an Indian politician who is serving as the 20th and current Chief Minister of Maharashtra since 30 June 2022. He is also serving as the Leader of Shiv Sena since February 2023 and the Leader of the House, Maharashtra Legislative Assembly since July 2022. He is also the Member of Legislative Assembly for the Kopri-Pachpakhadi constituency of Thane, Maharashtra since 2009 and was formerly the MLA of Thane constituency from 2004 to 2009.
Gulab Raghunath Patil is a politician and incumbent Water supply and Sanitation minister of the Maharashtra state. He is a Member of Legislative Assembly (MLA), the state's lower house representing rural Jalgaon constituency. He is a member of Shiv Sena party.
The 2019 Maharashtra Legislative Assembly election was held on 21 October 2019 to elect all 288 members of the state's Legislative Assembly. After a 61.4% turnout in the election, the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Shiv Sena (SHS) won a majority. Following differences over the government formation, the alliance was dissolved, precipitating a political crisis.
Purvesh Sarnaik is an Indian politician, film producer and businessperson from the Indian state of Maharashtra, affiliated with Shiv Sena. Currently, he is serving as the working president of Yuva Sena, the youth wing of Shiv Sena. He was elected as corporator to the Thane Municipal Corporation in February 2017. He is the son of MLA Pratap Sarnaik and son in law of Ranjit Patil.
A political crisis in the Indian state of Maharashtra occurred on 21 October 2019 after the declaration of results of the 2019 legislative assembly election over the formation of a new state government. The incumbent Bharatiya Janata Party Shiv Sena alliance crossed the majority of 145 seats needed in the assembly by winning a total of 161 seats in the alliance. Individually BJP won 105 and SHS won 56 seats. The Opposition INC-NCP Alliance with 106 seats did not reach the majority mark. Individually INC won 44 and NCP won 54 seats.
Devendra Fadnavis was sworn in as the chief minister of Maharashtra for the second time on 23 November 2019. Alongside Fadnavis, Ajit Pawar was sworn in as the deputy chief minister. Before a Supreme Court-ordered no confidence motion could take place, Pawar resigned on 26 November. Fadnavis resigned shortly thereafter, making his second ministry the shortest Maharashtra ministry, surpassing P. K. Sawant's 1963 interim government, that had lasted for nine days.
The Maha Vikas Aghadi or Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi, is a state-level political coalition formed after the 2019 Maharashtra Legislative Assembly election under the leadership of Uddhav Thackeray of SHS (UBT), Sharad Pawar of the NCP and Sonia Gandhi of the INC, along with the support from the Samajwadi Party, PWPI, CPI(M) and several other political parties including Independent MLAs. MVA is currently the official opposition in Maharashtra Legislature.
Legislative Assembly elections are speculated to be held in Maharashtra in 2024 to elect the 288 members of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly.
The Members of 14th Legislative Assembly of Maharashtra were elected in the 2019 Maharashtra Legislative Assembly election, with results announced on 24 October 2019.
Eknath Shinde was sworn in as the Chief Minister of Maharashtra on 30 June 2022, on resignation of his predecessor Uddhav Thackeray. Shinde leads a government consisting of Shiv Sena, the NCP and the BJP.
Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) (IAST: Śhiva Sēnā (Ud'dhava bāḷāsāhēba ṭhākarē); lit. 'Army of Shivaji, led by Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray'; abbr.SS (UBT)) is a Hindutva-based, Marathi regionalist, nationalist political party formed in 2022 under the leadership of former Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Uddhav Thackeray.
The Balasahebanchi Shiv Sena was a Hindu nationalist political party in India formed in 2022 and dissolved in 2023 under the leadership of Eknath Shinde, as a result of a split in the Shiv Sena. After the split, the Election Commission of India (ECI) allotted the party a new symbol as the main Shiv Sena's symbol was frozen. On 17 February 2023, the ECI granted the Balasahebanchi Shiv Sena the party name and symbol, the Shiv Sena and the Bow and Arrow, respectively.
The 2023 Nationalist Congress Party split occurred on 2 July 2023, when Ajit Pawar, along with several other party leaders, broke away from the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) led by his uncle Sharad Pawar and joined the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-Shiv Sena alliance government in Maharashtra. Ajit Pawar was sworn in as Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra, along with eight other NCP leaders who took oath as ministers. This led to a vertical split in the party, with two factions emerging: one led by Sharad Pawar and the other by Ajit Pawar. The split resulted in a legal battle over the party's name and symbol. On 6 February 2024, the Election Commission of India (ECI) awarded the party name and symbol to the faction headed by Ajit Pawar. The faction led by Sharad Pawar was subsequently recognized as Nationalist Congress Party. On 5 March 2024, Maharashtra Assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar declared the Ajit Pawar faction as the "real" NCP, citing its legislative majority.
To avoid disqualification under India's anti-defection law, Mr Shinde needs the support of 37 lawmakers in the state. He has claimed the support of 40 Sena lawmakers and six independents, but the number is yet to be independently verified
On the other hand, Mr. Shinde, who is currently stationed at Guwahati in Assam along with the group of MLAs supporting him, has been claiming the support of the majority of Shiv Sena MLAs and demanding that the Sena ally with the BJP, for the sake of Hindutva, by cutting ties with the Congress and the NCP.
Shiv Sena rebel Eknath Shinde moves the Supreme Court against deputy speaker's rejection of no-confidence motion plea by the rebel camp. The matter is likely to be heard by SC on Monday.
Supreme Court refuses to stay the floor test ordered in Maharashtra assembly tomorrow.