It did not take long after the Supreme Court verdict for the BJP to realise that its options were limited, sources say. Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Ajit Pawar, who was sworn in as deputy to Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, had failed to bring in MLAs to help the BJP touch majority in Maharashtra.
Soon after taking oath with Devendra Fadnavis in a surprise early morning swearing-in, Ajit Pawar had announced that all NCP MLAs including his uncle Sharad Pawar were with him in supporting a “stable” government. In a matter of four days, that was proved wrong again and again, as “missing” NCP lawmakers kept returning, some of them alleging they were tricked into attending the oath ceremony.
The government formation was challenged in Supreme Court by the Shiv Sena-NCP-Congress alliance that accused the BJP of operating stealthily and taking power in the dead of night.
Sources say the BJP, based on Ajit Pawar’s reassurances, hoped to have enough MLAs on its side by the time a trust vote was called for.
But this morning, the Supreme Court ordered an “immediate” floor test, to be telecast live, so that Mr Fadnavis could prove his majority in the assembly. “If the floor test is delayed, there is a possibility of horse-trading, it becomes incumbent upon the Court to act to protect democratic values,” said the court.
The top court also ordered an open ballot instead of a secret one which affected the BJP’s strategy – it was hoping that the NCP MLAs supporting Ajit Pawar would vote in support of the confidence motion.
The top court also ordered an open ballot instead of a secret one, in a blow to the BJP. The party, sources said, was hoping that the NCP MLAs loyal to Ajit Pawar would be more comfortable if the voting was kept secret.
Ajit Pawar, according to sources, threw in his towel and told the BJP it would be impossible to win over so many MLAs by tomorrow. News of his resignation emerged after his one-hour meeting with Mr Fadnavis.
The Supreme Court also said the trust vote would be conducted by a Pro-Tem or temporary Speaker, not a permanent Speaker as the government had asked for.
The tough ruling gave the BJP no room to manoeuvre, even though as single largest party, it believed it had the strongest claim to power.
So far, Ajit Pawar’s promise of getting a large chunk of NCP MLAs had not worked out.
Sources say the BJP is now prepping for early polls in Maharashtra, believing that the three-party alliance is not viable and unstable.
