Money and pawar

 Maharashtra will have a an unlikely coalition troika in power and that is mainly due to the NCP supremo Sharad Pawar who foresaw the cobbling of Shiv Sena, Congress and NCP to dethrone the BJP. The new power equation is likely to change the political fortune of Indian politics, especially in the north-west. The exit of 80-hour-long BJP-lone NCP Ajit Pawar government heralds the change in fortunes. It may not be the end of BJP as it would certainly not allow the grass to grow under its feet. There could be attempts at creating disturbances or even reverting back to resort politics if there are disgruntled elements in a post-government formation scenario. In the short term, it can hit some of the BJP dream projects. At least, fate of three projects hangs in balance. These include the Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train, Nanar oil refinery and Mumbai metro Aaarey car shed. The last had raised storm for felling of over thousands of trees. Though SS was part of the Devendra Fadnavis government, its leaders had opposed the metro shed project. The SS was against the $ 1 trillion bullet train on a number of issues, including its running time. As per SS, the speed was not saving that much of time but was causing a huge drain on finances. Deepak Kasarkar of SS, who was MoS for finance in the Fadnavis government opposed the train saying it was encroaching on farmers rights. He had even opposed the budgetary provision for the bullet train. Nanar is not a simple project. Three Indian public sector companies and Saudi Aramco had signed MoU for the Rs 3 lakh crore project. Pleading for the local villagers, their agriculture and fishing, the SS was opposed to the programme. The Aarey metro depot was vociferously opposed by Aditya Thakre, son of Uddhav. The then chief minister Fadnavis rejected the demand saying the Supreme Court had accepted that the car depot was not in a forest area. The Sena’s stand was just not populist. Large projects have many strings and cash destinations attached to it. Except metro, others were central projects and the finance flow was not destined for SS. Then SS was part of the alliance and could not raise their voices so vociferously. Having hands on the cash is certainly going to change the political permutations and combinations beyond the Maharashtra Assembly.This could be the beginning of a fund crisis for the BJP or would it launch its ‘Operation Kamala’ to recapture the lost turf? If such an operation is launched, it is likely that the pliant governor would do his bit again to launch a midnight surgical strike. BJP has sworn to return back and big as it did in Karnataka. Maharashtra is cash rich and an important state to hold. It is also common knowledge that the one who loses Maharashtra also loses Delhi in due course. Mumbai or the former Bombay controls cash of the country and helps political motors move. Bombay controls satta to stock market and winners there are not speculators but the controllers of the power chain. The developments m1ay be just the beginning of a change and if not controlled can pave the way to the next elections, may sooner than 2024.