Is Maha Vikas Aghadi govt unstable? Uddhav Thackeray's meeting with alliance partners triggers speculation

The speculation, whether or not it carries much substance, has drawn attention following a series of alliance meetings including one between Thackeray and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar.

Indicating the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is desperate to return to power, NCP chief Sharad Pawar rccently told NDTV, "Fadnavis is getting impatient."

However, the veteran politician denied any possibility of the break in the alliance which is run by ideologically-opposite parties Sena, NCP and Congress.

"But there is no threat to the Maharashtra government. All MLAs are with us, any attempt to break them at this time will result in the public beating us," Pawar had added.

Trying to portray an "all is well" picture, Sena MP and spokesperson Sanjay Raut tweeted few days ago, "Well ! @BSKoshyari is elder to me so this namaskar , otherwise we had good interaction , I told him not to worry, our MVA government under leadership of @officeofUT is running fine."

The speculation gained momentum even more after Congress MP Rahul Gandhi, who is known as the second most important leader in the party after chief Sonia Gandhi, in a Zoom video said, "If there is government in Maharashtra, the BJP's job is to oppose it. It is not a fault to oppose.

"If the BJP wants to raise questions constructively, it should do. Raising questions actually leads to benefits. The government can learn from it. But there is a big difference between constructive opposition and imposition of President's rule by destroying the democratic structure."

The opposition BJP, led by former Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, has been relentlessly opposing the Thackeray government over its handling of the Covid-19 situation in the state.

As of now, Maharashtra, which has reported 54,758 cases including 1,792 deaths so far, forms one-third of the total Covid cases across the country.

After weeks of political drama, the Sena, NCP and Congress had come together to form the government last year after the single largest party BJP refused to its then ally Sena's demand of 50:50 power share deal including rotational Chief Ministership.