Special Political Correspondent - Mumbai 

Mumbai, Nov 27: The popular title of undisputed 'Chanakya' of Indian politics which BJP chief Amit Shah has been wearing in the past some years seems to be in trouble after Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar resigned as chief minister and deputy chief minister respectively in Maharashtra on Tuesday, November 26. 

When the master plan initiated by Amit Shah failed miserably, the mainstream, as well as social media discussions created a new trend by calling Sharad Pawar as a new 'Chanakya' in Indian politics for fighting against the odd, uniting the opposition and successfully removing all the hurdles for Uddhav Thackeray to be new CM of Maharashtra. Amit Shah, the shrewd strategist, did not experience such humiliating defeat in the recent past as most of his plans, if not all, gave him results. In any case, he did not get a ‘befitting’ reply like this and that too within four days of executing the plan.

Amit Shah 

The political pundits in the country have come to a conclusion that BJP’s loss in Maharashtra is not a small issue confined to a state, but an issue which will have larger implications in the national politics in the days to come. 

When Devendra Fadnavis informed Maharashtra Governor earlier this month, that his party did not enjoy the majority and was not going to form the government, there was a sense of sympathy for Fadnavis and BJP in Maharashtra and around the nation. Shiv Sena became the villain when it agreed to join hands with NCP and Congress in order to get power. But when Maharashtra Governor revoked the President’s rule in the state in the early hours of Saturday and administered oath to Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar as CM and his deputy respectively , the entire nation woke-up to a 'un-BJP' kind of politics with surprise. BJP was considered as party with a difference, but joining hands with Ajit Pawar who had Rs 70,000 crore irrigation scam under his neck, was not taken easily by even loyal BJP supporters. Since then, not only the mood of the nation changed, but the opposition got a strong arm to fight against Prime Minister Modi, Amit Shah, Devendra Fadnavis and BJP. 

Sharad Pawar

BJP committed many mistakes Maharashtra with regard to the recent political drama. Major six mistakes are listed below. 

1. First mistake BJP committed was issuing ED notice to Shard Pawar just before the assembly elections. Every Maharashtra citizen agrees that Pawar is a tall Maratha leader. In his 50 plus years of political life, he has earned friends and enemies but he has always been capable of turning enemies into friends. In 2014, when BJP and Shiv Sena fought election separately, soon after the result, Sharad Pawar's NCP rescued Devendra Fadnavis' government during trust vote. People of Maharashtra are well aware of this. Sending ED notice just before the election was the first mistake committed by BJP because, that created huge sympathy for Pawar and family in the hearts of people of Maharashtra. 

2. Second mistake committed by BJP was to trust Ajith Pawar for returning back to power. Entire BJP especially Modi, Amit Shah, and Fadnavis targeted Ajith Pawar throughout the campaign by highlighting irrigation scam and even Modi called NCP as Natural Corrupt Party. But for the power, they joined the hand with same Ajit Pawar who pretended that he had the support of all 54 MLAs. But BJP failed to read the body language of Ajith Pawar. 

3. The third mistake was, trying to break the Pawar family. But at the end, it was proved that blood is thicker than water. There are several instances of families divided by political parties for the sake of power. In this case, Pawar family (Sharad Pawar and his nephew Ajit) stand united. Ajith Pawar surrendered and resigned. 

4. Fourthly, BJP failed to weigh the power of Sharad Pawar. Looks like Amit Shah completely underestimated the 'Chanakya' skills of NCP supremo Sharad Pawar. BJP at least read the support of Marathas to Sharad Pawar especially after ED notice was issued. It is estimated that Pawar gained at least 20 more seats in assembly polls at the cost of BJP. 

5. Another mistake committed by Shah was to involve PM Modi to solve this problem. Without cabinet meeting, the President’s rule was lifted through the unilateral power of Prime Minister. The process should not have been taken place at mid-night or early hours. PM should have called cabinet meeting and revoked the President’’ rule in Maharashtra. But this suspicious move became the biggest fodder for media houses for debate. Revoking the President’s rule by Prime Minister without holding the cabinet meetings is expected to be done only in emergency situations.

Ajit Pawar

6. Sixth mistake was helping three parties to come closer. It was BJP who made it easier to unite NCP-Congress and Shiv Sena to come closer. It took many days to discuss the power-sharing for these parties, but through this BJP's error of judgment, all three enemies became 'close' friends within no time. 

Now, there is new hero in national politics. Sharad Pawar is the 'Person of the year 2019' or at least 'Politician of the year 2019' as he outplayed Amit Shah to become new ‘Chanakya’ of Indian politics.