Stage Politics

It is no secret that the ruling Mahayuti alliance that governs Maharashtra is united in name more than nature. Brought together less by ideological kinship than by arithmetic and ambition, the coalition comprising the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena and the breakaway faction of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) headed by Ajit Pawar has been riddled with mistrust, factional resentment and veiled rivalries despite their remarkable win in the 2024 Assembly polls.

These tensions spilled into public view recently at Raigad Fort to commemorate the 345th death anniversary of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj with Union Home Minister Amit Shah sharing the stage with Maharashtra’s top brass on the occasion. While Shah, Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis and Deputy CM Eknath Shinde made speeches, Pawar, the second Deputy CM, was pointedly not invited to speak, prompting many to view it as Amit Shah’s snub to Ajit Pawar.

Pawar later claimed he had chosen not to speak because the event had run late. Few were convinced. The order of speeches - Shinde, then Fadnavis, then Shah - left little doubt about who was granted legitimacy and who was made to wait. The fact that even BJP MP Udayanraje Bhosale, a descendant of Chhatrapati Shivaji, was allowed to speak before Pawar only reinforced the hierarchy. For those watching closely, the message from Shah and the BJP central leadership was clear: when it comes to allies, ideological loyalty trumps convenience.

That loyalty still resides with Shinde. Though his recent grumbles about delayed file clearances and lopsided fund distribution have exposed fault lines within the coalition, his version of the Shiv Sena remains an ideological sibling of the BJP. At a private meeting in Pune the night before the Raigad event, Shinde reportedly told Shah that files related to Shiv Sena-held departments were languishing in the finance ministry controlled by Ajit Pawar. The Shiv Sena, Shinde complained, was being treated as a junior partner.

Pawar has denied the allegations, insisting that cooperation within Mahayuti remains smooth. The BJP’s decision to exclude him from the dais at Raigad suggests that Delhi remains wary of Pawar, who split the undivided NCP led by his uncle Sharad Pawar.

That wariness may stem from Pawar’s proximity to his uncle Sharad, whom he joined later that same day at a meeting of the Rayat educational institution. While the younger Pawar insisted this was routine business, the optics - on the same day he was diplomatically iced out of a major state event - were telling.

In contrast, Shinde was in full political bloom at Raigad. He reaffirmed his cultural credentials, echoed the BJP’s historical narrative and aligned himself once again with Hindutva sentiment.

For now, the Mahayuti lumbers on, held together by electoral calculus rather than political chemistry. The Raigad incident proves that the BJP retains a soft spot for the ideologically aligned Shinde while Pawar, for all his administrative heft, still struggles for political acceptance.