Despite the fact that there is no clarity on whether the BJP will choose between estranged ally Shiv Sena, which is vacillating on formally snapping ties, or the Sharad Pawar led NCP which has declared "unconditional, outside support," the Devendra Fadnavis led BJP government in Maharashtra seems to be comfortably placed at present.
The state government may be in a minority but the BJP party leaders claim the NCP's support will help them win the trust vote due this week. On the lines of 'Operation Lotus' by the erstwhile BJP government in Karnataka under BS Yeddyurappa, the party in the state also plan to split legislators from other parties, including estranged ally Shiv Sena, to shore up its numbers in the assembly.
The NCP, which had been castigated by prime minister Narendra Modi as a "naturally corrupt party" in his election rallies, had stolen a march over the Shiv Sena (which was hoping to join hands with its former ally for power) by announcing that it would support ideological foe BJP in the interests of a stable government for the state.
The BJP managed to to put up its best ever showing in the state with 122 MLAs, plus one from an ally (RSP), and also managed to get support from seven independents and three legislators from controversial Virar strongman Hitendra Thakur's Bahujan Vikas Aghadi (BVA). However, the BJP will not be able to get past the halfway mark in the 288-member house unless it garners support of either the Sena (63) or NCP (41).
A BJP minister told dna that while they were sure of sailing through in the trust vote due to the NCP's support, they were also confident that legislators from other parties would defect to join the BJP and in re-polls, help the party get numbers past the halfway mark in the 288-member house.
"We have a large number of MLAs from the Congress, NCP and even the Shiv Sena who are willing to join the BJP after resigning as legislators," the minister claimed, adding that the BJP would then field these defectors in by-polls on the party symbol (in case the numbers didnt add up to bypass provisions regarding defections).
"We are also trying to eventually bring the Shiv Sena around," the BJP leader claimed.
"We are unfazed. Would the party have taken a defiant posture against the Shiv Sena if we were in trouble?" the minister questioned. "If we were unsure of our numbers, our leaders would have made a beeline for Matoshree (the Thackeray family residence in Bandra East) where (Sena president) Uddhav Thackeray would have kept us waiting for hours for an audience," he said, alluding to the treatment given to the BJP by the Sena during the days when the later dominated the saffron alliance.
The BJP minister likened the NCP's unconditional support to their government as "anticipatory bail" considering the cases of alleged graft against NCP leaders.
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