India: BJP tries to overthrow the opposition in the strategic state of Maharashtra

The state of Maharashtra, which is home to the financial capital Bombay, could pass from the hands of the opposition to those of Narendra Modi's BJP.

AFP

Text by: Côme Bastin Follow

3 mins

In India, the political world has been closely following the tribulations of the rebel MPs of the Shiv Sena party for a week.

On their decisions depends the fate of Maharashtra.

This state of 115 million inhabitants, which is home to the financial capital Bombay, could pass from the hands of the opposition to those of the BJP of Narendra Modi.

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With our correspondent in Bangalore

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It is a surreal situation that is unfolding, although it is not unprecedented in India.

Imagine that LREM charters a plane, takes around twenty socialist or LR deputies to Guyana and locks them up in a hotel to convince them to support the government.

This is a bit of what the BJP is doing with elected rebels from the Shiv Sena, the ruling party in Maharashtra in coalition with the opposition Congress party.

They were taken to the neighboring state of Gujarat, then to Assam several thousand kilometers from Bombay.

The objective for the BJP: to bring down the opposition coalition and return to power in Maharashtra which it led for a long time, until 2019. The elected rebels, between 15 and 20, are locked up in front of the Radisson Blue hotel in the capital Guwahati.

A hundred journalists from all over the country watch in the crushing heat for white smoke or a simple statement.

BJP on the move?

Officially, the BJP is not on the move, but that's an open secret.

Several BJP ministers from Assam visited the Radisson Blue, including the Chief Minister who had his photo taken outside the hotel.

And when Maharashtra's central government stripped rebel MPs of their police protection, the BJP-controlled central power offered them bespoke security.

These political negotiations provoke the anger of part of the local population, who are fighting against

for decades in Assam.

“ 

says the leader of the opposition TMC party in Assam

 »

Like him, many wonder who pays the indecent bill for this stay in the luxurious hotel.

Shiv Sena leader against this alliance with the BJP

In the past, we have already seen the BJP turn majorities to its advantage, such as in Karnataka.

For the moment, Uddhav Thackeray, the head of the Shiv Sena in Bombay, is against this alliance with the BJP whose policies he recently criticized.

So he threatened the rebel Shiv Sena deputies and ministers with being dismissed if they did not return quietly to Bombay.

But they defend themselves, saying that the Shiv Sena has long been an ally of the BJP.

The leader of the mutiny even turned to the Supreme Court of the country to justify his approach.

If the mighty Maharashtra were taken from the opposition, it would in any case be a democratic shock for the country and the opposition.

This is why the case takes a national turn.

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