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Maharashtra govt formation: 1980, 2014, and now — Pawar the key figure

President’s Rule was imposed in the state for the first time on February 17, 1980. The government of the day had completed one-and-a-half years in power.

Maharashtra government formation, Maharashtra President's rule, President's rule in Maharashtra, Maharashtra govt formation, India news, Indian Express NCP chief Sharad Pawar, party leader Praful Patel and Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge at YB Chavan centre in Mumbai, on Tuesday. (Express Photo by Ganesh Shirsekar)

THIS IS the third time that Maharashtra has come under President’s Rule since the state was formed in 1960. And in all three instances, NCP chief Sharad Pawar has been the central figure.

Furthermore, this is the first time when President’s Rule has been imposed after poll results were declared and parties failed to stake claim for government formation.

President’s Rule was imposed in the state for the first time on February 17, 1980. The government of the day had completed one-and-a-half years in power. The central rule lasted 112 days, till June 8. Sharad Pawar was the then chief minister and was dismissed by then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, who had returned to power after the Emergency.

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In 1978, Pawar was with the Congress, which had won the state Assembly elections that year. The Congress made Vasantdada Patil the chief minister. This upset Pawar. Five months after Vasantdada’s government came to power, Pawar parted ways with the Congress and floated the Indian National Congress (Socialist).

“He joined hands with the Janata Party, toppled the Vasantdada government and at 38, became the youngest chief minister,” says veteran Congress leader Ulhas Pawar.

Festive offer

He added that Sharad Pawar would not have lost his chief ministership had he returned to the Congress. “Congress leader Sanjay Gandhi had urged Sharad Pawar to return to the Congress. I was present at the meeting where Sanjay made the offer. However, Janata Party leaders like Chandrashekhar dissuaded Sharad Pawar from doing so, which resulted in the dismissal of his government by Indira,” he said.

The second time, when President’s Rule was imposed in the state in 2014, the government had almost completed its five-year term with elections two weeks away.

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It was imposed on September 28, 2014 and remained in place till October 31, 2014. It was imposed after the then chief minister Prithviraj Chavan submitted his resignation to Governor Ch Vidyasagar Rao after the 15-year-old Congress-NCP alliance in the state fell apart. Then President Pranab Mukherjee had signed the proclamation for imposition of central rule in Maharashtra.

Chavan had resigned merely two weeks before the state went to polls after the Sharad Pawar-led NCP called off its alliance with it alleging that the chief minister had stalled talks over seat sharing arrangements. “We had that time tried our best to convince the Congress but could not do so and, therefore, were left with no option but to quit the government,” recalls Congress leader Gopal Tiwari.

Congress leader Sachin Sawant recalled that the NCP’s decision to break away from the alliance came an hour after the BJP-Shiv Sena alliance fell apart. “Not just that, NCP leaders even went to the Governor and told him that the party was withdrawing its support to the Prithviraj government,” he said.

First uploaded on: 13-11-2019 at 01:27 IST
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