Why did the usual suspect go untouched this time as crisis looms large in Maharashtra?

Considered the weakest link in the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) coalition government in Maharashtra, the Congress bucked the trend and remained untouched unlike in the past in other states where its legislators have always been susceptible to poaching.

Instead, one of the strong cadre-based parties, the Shiv Sena, witnessed rebellion within its ranks.

Going against the family of Balasaheb Thackeray and seeking the removal of his son Uddhav Thackeray as the chief minister by none other than Shiv Sena legislators is unthinkable.

The move has surprised many. Eknath Shinde is a die-hard Shiv Sainik and was considered a loyalist of the Thackeray family.

What happened then? Why did he raise a banner of revolt? The rebellion has been brewing in the Shiv Sena for some time.

Shinde is the minister in-charge of the Urban Development and Public Works Department in the MVA government. Both are high-profile portfolios and his connect with the Shiv Sena cadre is said to be his strong point.

Uddhav Thackeray for the past six months has not been well and had stopped meeting people, including Shiv Sainiks. During this period, the government was literally run by his son Aaditya Thackeray who along with his new team managed the Chief Minister's Office (CMO).

A sidelined Shinde felt slighted and decided to take control of the government and the Shiv Sena by leading a rebellion against the Thackerays.

He waited for the right moment to implement his move and surprisingly remained silent during the recent Rajya Sabha and legislative council polls, which could otherwise have been an opportune time for him to strike.

His key demands include going back to the Hindutva brand of politics and realigning with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) with which the Shiv Sena snapped its decades-old ties in 2019 after the Maharashtra assembly elections over government formation.

Shinde's revolt left the Congress, which since 2014 has been the most vulnerable party in terms of poaching and defections, untouched.

The usual suspect was not even considered in this stealth operation despite being a divided house. There is massive resentment against its Maharashtra unit chief Nana Patole as state leaders have been repeatedly complaining to the high command about his style of functioning.

It was Patole who gave up the Speaker's post to become the Maharashtra Congress president in February 2021 and since then the post is lying vacant.

Many Congress leaders are ruing the fact that the party did not have the Speaker's post during the ongoing crisis. The role of a Speaker is crucial in such situations - be it defections or recognising separate groups in the assembly - and the Congress party willingly gave up that post and the advantage too.

A few days ago, the Congress suffered a huge setback when its main candidate (Chandrakant Handore) lost the legislative council polls as the party's second nominee (Bhai Jagtap) secured more first preference votes. It turned into a Congress versus Congress contest and caused huge embarrassment for the grand old party.

The Congress has rushed former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Kamal Nath to Mumbai for crisis management. Interestingly, Nath failed to save his government from a similar crisis in March 2020 when Jyotiraditya Scindia led a revolt against him and brought an end to his 15-month tenure as the chief minister.

Now that the MVA coalition government is on the verge of collapse, Congress might take some solace in the fact that it didn't become the means to an end.