Maharashtra | The cold war in the Mahayuti

It’s still short of open warfare, but the trenches around those Deccan forts are all lit up by stray cannonballs—some even hint it’s friendly fire. The ruling Mahayuti hadn’t ever been a happy menage a trois that went waltzing into a honeymoon after its historic mandate in the 2024 assembly polls. But the tacit animus, especially centred around a sulking Eknath Shinde, is now getting explicit.One signal came via an absence, a pointedly conspicuous one. In mid-August, the deputy CM and party colleague Bharatseth Gogawale sat out a state cabinet meeting. As the month wound down, the air thickened again, this time with a presence: that of Manoj Jarange-Patil at Mumbai’s Azad Maidan. The Maratha activist’s now-on, now-off agitations had appeared mysteriously at critical moments. His siege ended on September 2, but only with a qualified victory. However, the state government’s acceptance of Jarange-Patil’s demand of Kunbi status for Marathas of Marathwada has miffed NCP cabinet minister and OBC leader Chhagan Bhujbal, who boycotted a cabinet meeting on September 3 as OBC protests erupted across the state. Gogawale’s triggers are, of course, not mysterious. The four-term Mahad MLA, minister for employment guarantees, and fellow Sainik and education minister Dadaji Bhuse have long coveted the guardian ministership of Raigad and Nashik districts, respectively. In January, when Aditi Tatkare, the women and child development minister from Ajit Pawar’s NCP, and water resources minister Girish Mahajan (BJP) were named to the posts, vociferous Sena protests forced a retreat. The posts—which confer local power in growth hubs like Raigad and Nashik—have stayed unfilled since.Still, Aditi and Mahajan were picked by the state government to hoist the national flag in Raigad and Nashik on August 15. This rankled. Shinde’s absence from the cabinet meet was said to be “pre-planned”, attributed to a visit to Jammu and Kashmir. But he has also visited New Delhi thrice in a month. In events seen as cast within a fraught dynamic, this has included meetings with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union home minister Amit Shah. Shinde has always chafed at being forced to play second fiddle in the new regime, apparently in a reneging of a promise. But now he’s said to be positively seething at how his wings are being clipped by the state BJP brass, including CM Devendra Fadnavis..preferred-source-banner{ margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom:10px;}POINTS OF CONTENTIONTake how policies set during Shinde’s tenure as CM are being rolled back. This includes the decision to hire 1,310 buses on rent for the Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC). That Fadnavis has ordered a probe into the rates is galling for the ex-CM: Shinde then held charge of transport, and Gogawale chaired MSRTC. Fadnavis has twisted the knife in deep with another probe: the son of Sanjay Shirsat, the Sena’s social justice minister, was alleged to have wangled a luxury hotel at cut-rate prices. With the deal called off, the Sena alleges the probe is being weaponised.However, Shinde has a certain utility in New Delhi’s eyes, according to his partisans. “He’s cut from the same Hindutva cloth as them—more dependable than the TDP or the JD(U),” says a Sena source. A BJP elder concedes his marginalisation is bad optics, fostering the charge of ‘use-and-throw politics’.The Maratha stir’s sudden rebirth, at that juncture, was thus freighted with meaning. Some ascribed its remote authorship to Shinde, a charge fuelled by pro-Fadnavis social media voices and even Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut. Despite the CM’s artful compromise, the core dispute is alive, as is the larger politics impelling it. Do all Marathas qualify as Kunbis? Well, Shinde has once before used the stir to qualify as a ‘Maratha saviour’—a useful halo for the long war.- EndsPublished By: Shyam BalasubramanianPublished On: Sep 5, 2025Must Watch

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Maharashtra | The cold war in the Mahayuti

As Fadnavis cuts a seething Shinde down to size, the Mahayuti's cold war comes to boiling point

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