Sidelining Shinde will vindicate Uddhav Thackeray?

New Delhi: It's been five days and the victorious Mahayuti in Maharashtra is yet to name its chief minister as the top BJP leadership continues to deliberate on the pros and cons of not handing over the reins of the government to Shiv Sena's Eknath Shinde once again.

Though Shinde has made it clear that he will abide by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's decision, the tussle for the top post between him and BJP's Devendra Fadnavis is quite obvious.

Shiv Sainiks have raised the pitch, insisting that the BJP had promised to work under Shinde if the Mahayuti returns to power. So has the BJP cadre, maintaining that being the single largest with almost a majority of its own makes the party must have its own chief minister. A decision is expected anytime soon.

Shinde lost all bargaining power after NCP's Ajit Pawar extended unconditional support to the BJP in government formation. That forced him to fall in line and issue a statement that he will support anyone named by the Prime Minister and home minister Amit Shah for the chief minister's post.

That said, any move to sideline Shinde will come as a huge morale booster for Uddhav Thackeray whose party had been decimated in the just-concluded assembly elections. It will vindicate Uddhav Thackeray who had claimed that the BJP will finish off Shinde once it gets an opportunity to do so.

To prove their point that whoever aligned with the present BJP under Modi and Shah had ceased to exit as a major force in their respective states, the opposition parties have cited the examples of Shiromani Akali Dal in Punjab, Shiv Sena, Indian National Lok Dal in Haryana, AIADMK in Tamil Nadu, People's Democratic Party in Jammu and Kashmir, Biju Janata Dal in Odisha, YSR Congress Party in Andhra Pradesh, Jannayak Janta Party of Dushyant Chautala, Janata Dal leader Chimanbhai Patel in Gujarat, Asom Gana Parishad in Assam, Lok Janshakti Party in Bihar and Goa Forward Party in Goa. The Janata Dal (United) of Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar had once claimed that the BJP was trying to split it through its machinations.

If the BJP snubs Shinde, it will put the saffron party in a tight spot vis-a-vis its existing allies who will feel threatened and vary about their future in the National Democratic Alliance. 
Denial of the chief minister's post might also have an impact in the upcoming local bodies' elections in Maharashtra.