Three attempts so far to bring down MVA govt, recalls Pawar

MUMBAI: NCP president Sharad Pawar, the architect of the three-party Maha Vikas Aghadi government, on Tuesday described Eknath Shinde's rebellion as the third attempt to dislodge the government in the state which was formed in November 2019. Pawar, at least in public, did not attach much importance to the prospect of a revolt within Shiv Sena, calling it an "internal problem" of the party which would not constitute a threat to the MVA regime's stability.
The NCP chief's comments recalling what happened in the build-up to government formation pertain to his own party. After a series of meetings among constituents of the MVA at a time when the process of forming the government had entered the final stages, a section of NCP legislators had gone missing. Congress had shifted all its 44 MLAs to Jaipur while Shiv Sena and NCP legislators were camping in Mumbai. However, the whereabouts of six NCP legislators remained a mystery. They were later tracked down to a hotel near Delhi. They were escorted back to Mumbai by NCP activists and law enforcing agencies.
Another attempt was made barely a few days before the formation of the government when NCP, Shiv Sena and Congress formalised an alliance. While the date of the swearing-in was yet to be announced, BJP tried to pull off a coup with Devendra Fadnavis staking claim as the leader of the single largest party. He was sworn in as chief minister in an unexpected, unscheduled early morning ceremony by the governor, with Ajit Pawar joining him as deputy chief minister.
However, this arrangement lasted merely days; Fadnavis realised that while he had taken the initiative, he was unable to cobble up the required numbers - NCP held together with Ajit Pawar falling in line with the party diktat. Fadnavis was forced to return to Raj Bhavan and hand over his resignation to governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari.
Since then, BJP leaders including union minister Narayan Rane, Chandrakant Patil and Kirit Somaiya have predicted the dismissal of the MVA government on several occasions.
"Rane had given several dates saying the MVA government will be dismissed soon. Even Chandrakant Patil and Somaiya said it, but it never happened,'' a Congress leader said.