Government overshadowed by politics as Shinde Sarkar completes year in office

As the Shiv Sena-BJP government in Maharashtra, led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, marks one year in power on Friday, bitter non-stop fighting with the Uddhav Thackeray-led organisation and sporadic confrontations between the ruling partners have stood out.

After Shinde's rebellion divided their original party last year, the Sena and Shiv Sena (UBT) officially declared each other to be gaddar (traitor), and Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis claimed to have exacted revenge on Thackeray for his betrayal.

Though comfortably placed to form the government after the 2019 Assembly elections, the undivided Shiv Sena and BJP ended their decades-long ties over the CM’s post. Thackeray then allied with the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and Congress to become the CM until Shinde toppled his cart.

About 50 MLAs on his side, Shinde took oath on June 30, 2022, and Fadnavis, a former chief minister whose party BJP has 105 legislators in the 288-member Assembly, became his deputy in what was seen as an unprecedented move. The goings-on have left little room for doubt that politics has overshadowed governance in these months, though the government moved quickly to speed up a few infrastructure projects, including Metro lines in Mumbai.