A Deja-Vu for the BJP?
The new three-day government of the BJP with Devendra Fadnavis as the chief minister is certainly not unprecedented in the history of the political party. In 1996, when it was the first Hindu nationalist government in India, it collapsed in just 13 days. The prime minister in power for 13 days was Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee who resigned before facing a vote of confidence in the Parliament. The political waves back then were sure for the party to lose, and thus they saved themselves the embarrassment. Similar to the political instability at the Centre back then, is the one we see today in Maharashtra. What runs joint is the involvement of the Bhartiya Janta Party as a primary. Before the deadline to prove a forged majority, both Vajpayee and Fadnavis walked out. Although the later walked out sooner than the former, the question remains. Has the three-day Fadnavis government in Maharashtra broken the record of the 13-day government of Vajpayee at the Centre?
In the political drama playing out in the country, Fadnavis was one day ahead in claiming the record. Yeddyurappa is the shortest-serving Chief Minister with a two-day government in Karnataka. Although, now Fadnavis does hold the record of being the shortest chief minister serving in the state of Maharashtra. It seems as if the BJP felt the record is less gruesome compared to the embarrassment they would have to face if the floor test would have been conducted tomorrow as ordered by the Supreme Court.
A great story-line, one must say
A storm takes the internet with trolls on Fadnavis’s resignation as the Maharashtra Chief Minister. The political drama is being compared to the very famous Game of Thrones for the power changing hands. After his hush-hush early morning ceremony to be swearing in a closed room, he has put his resignation in a press conference accepting defeat. A jibe on the drama is making rounds on the internet and is surely serving cold the embarrassment to the BJP. It is being called the ‘biggest prank played ever in the history’.
The unfolding of the melodrama is said to have more twists and turns than an Ekta Kapoor daily soap. The state assembly elections have become a dramatic spectacle for all in the country after Ajit Pawar taking a U-turn things spiced up a little more. In the press conference where Fadnavis announced his resignation, he blamed the fall on Pawar’s resignation which was allegedly due to ‘personal reasons’. Maybe Ajit Pawar will save his political career in the guidance of Sharad Pawar and support of the NCP, but the BJP is left to the netizens to be trolled around. The number or no number game has been ongoing for long now, and it is time to rest the swords or to prepare for a defence for BJP’s next political blow.
The perfect plot has been laid. An early morning secret oath, an unprecedented show of strength, the tables are turning, the no-more-support narrative after Ajit’s resignation and finally the fall. A great show, indeed.