JOIN USMaharashtra: BJP scores first 'goal' against MVA government in Sanjay Rathod's resignation
More than one year after its oldest ally broke away and joined hands with the Congress-NCP front to form the Maha Vikas Aghadi and come to power in Maharashtra, the BJP has been restless.
The BJP never left any opportunity to target Maharashtra chief minister and Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray over the last one-year-and-three months.
Thackeray became the chief minister on November 28, 2019.
The BJP’s success or its first goal came on February 28, 2021 – exactly 15 months after Thackeray took charge of the Trimurti alliance – when Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Rathod, a prominent leader of the Banjara community, had to put down his papers in the wake of Pooja Chavan case.
Amid fierce attack from the BJP, the defence of Rathod had become untenable and there was no other option.
Plus, add to it, two things that Uddhav did not like - the way Rathod defied the Covid-19 norms and staged a show of strength in twin districts of Yavatmal and Washim, and the Vidarbha leader bringing in ‘mahants’ to join the issue and put up an opposition against his removal.
“The BJP was restless, the BJP had been maintaining that the government would collapse on its own, but at the same time, some leaders had been speaking about what is known as Operation Lotus,” points out veteran political analyst Prakash Akolkar. “Whether it was about the Covid-19 pandemic, Sushant Singh Rajput case, Arnab Goswami episode, Kangana Ranaut fiasco, Thackeray, his son Aaditya, Shiv Sena, and the MVA government has been at the receiving end,” he added.
On 7 February, when union home minister Amit Shah visited Sindhudurg in the Konkan region at the inauguration of a medical college owned by a trust of BJP Rajya Sabha member Narayan Rane, he held a meeting with the leader of opposition in Assembly Devendra Fadnavis, his counterpart in the Council Pravin Darekar, and state BJP president Chandrakant Patil, after which decided to go all out against the Thackeray-sarkar.
“Resignation is not enough, there should be an FIR, Sanjay Rathod should be arrested...resignation itself indicates that he is guilty,” says Rane, an ex-chief minister and ex-leader of opposition, who is a bête noire of Uddhav.
Both Fadnavis and Darekar have questioned why there has been a delay of a fortnight or rather 20 days. “There is overwhelming evidence against Rathod,” said Fadnavis.
Lashing out at the MVA government, Fadnavis said that what the state is witnessing is unprecedented. “There is rampant corruption in the transfer of IAS and IPS officers,” he said, pointing out that the police force is siding with the government.