Maharashtra Political Crisis 2022: Explained

So much of buzz in Maharashtra politics, But what is happening? – Maharashtra Political Crisis

– Explained

Background Story: Maharashtra Political Crisis

As you may know, Maharashtra Govt is a Coalition govt.

• Coalition governments are formed by a minimum of two political parties or more.

So the three main political parties of India have together jointly formed the Maharashtra government in 2019 (they are Uddhav Thackeray shiv sena, Sharad Pawar NCP, and Congress party)

these three main political parties have been running a coalition government in Maharashtra since 2019. And of course, there are some smaller political parties and independent candidates who have also extended their support to this coalition government.

Majority Rule: Maharashtra Coalition Govt

So in the 2019, Maharashtra state assembly elections, shiv sena won 56 seats, NCP 54 seats, Congress party 44 seats, and BJP 105 seats.

BJP is the only party that has more seats in the 2019 Maharashtra assembly election. But even then BJP did not form the government.  

• there was a coalition government of shiv sena, NCP, and the congress party.
• if you add the total number of seats of the coalition government it is 154 seats.

Majority Rule:
1. Maharashtra state assembly has a total of 288 seats. which means if you want to form a government in Maharashtra then you need 145 seats (Majority)

Coalition party: In Numbers

As you can see, the coalition parties have 154 seats together, so it goes far beyond the necessary 145 seats. The three main political parties decided to form a coalition government together.  

On top of it, some independent, as well as smaller political parties, have also shown their support for this coalition government so in total by the end of 2019. A coalition government was formed in Maharashtra with the support of 169 seats.

And then in 2020 and 2021, 16 more MLAs supported the coalition government, and together the Maharashtra coalition government had a total of 175 MLAs.

And this coalition government in Maharashtra was known as MVA’s (Maha Vikas Aghadi) party and they had a total of 175 seats out of 288 seats.

• Together, the three main political parties had only 154 seats.
• 21 more MLAs joined them subsequently – these 21 MLAs came from…
• AIMIM (2 Seats), Bahujan Vikas Aghadi (3 Seats), CPI Marxist (1 Seat), Peasants and Workers Party of India (1 Seat), Prahar Janashakti party (2 Seats), Samajwadi Party (2 Seats), and finally the independent candidates (13 Seats) – Supported the Maha Vikas Aghadi coalition.

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Maharashtra Political Crisis: Explained

Now recently what happened was on 22nd June, Eknath Shinde, who is an MLA of shiv sena he along with 29 more MLA from shiv sena went missing. They were found resting in a hotel located in the city of Surat, Gujarat.

they had no other place to go other than Gujarat which means they directly gave a hint they want to support BJP. So initially there were 30 MLAs who went missing and now 37 MLAs are showing support to Eknath Shinde.

“There was speculation that all of them would resign to destabilize the government.”

But why would they do that? – allegedly they are dissatisfied with Sena’s alliance with Congress and the NCP.

Remember:
2019: BJP and Shiv Sena fought election together, split over Chief Minister position.

Now let’s understand the numbers

• Maharashtra assembly has 288 seats.
• 145 Seats is the majority mark.
• MVA’s (Maha Vikas Aghadi) strength is around 169 legislators.

But if these 40 rebel MLAs resign, the number of the MVA strength in the house will come below the majority mark.

So what are the possibilities that can happen?

1. Uddhav Thackeray can dissolve the assembly.
2. Eknath Shinde can go on to support BJP.
3. BJP’S Fadnavis can stake claims to form the government.

Next story: to be updated…