MUMBAI: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s party was forced out of powerTuesday in Maharashtra state, home to the country’s financial capitalMumbai, following the collapse of its short-lived coalition.
Hard-fought state elections last month saw Modi’s Hindu nationalistBharatiya Janata Party (BJP) win the largest share of seats but not enoughto form a government on its own, prompting weeks of haggling thatculminated in the imposition of presidential rule on Maharashtra two weeksago.
The BJP managed to eke out a surprise agreement with a top leader from theNationalist Congress Party (NCP) on Saturday, but victory was fleeting,after other NCP leaders denounced the deal, leading to its dissolution.
BJP lawmaker Devendra Fadnavis resigned as chief minister Tuesday, tellingreporters that the party could not form a government.
Although the BJP had previously governed the country’s richest state in acoalition with its right-wing regional ally Shiv Sena, the alliance brokeup after the October election due to a power-sharing dispute.
Shiv Sena and its ideological rivals, the centre-left Indian NationalCongress, and the NCP are expected to stake a joint claim to form agovernment instead.
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“The fact that these parties, which have so little in common, are comingtogether just to keep the BJP out — this has very dangerous implicationsfor Modi and his party,” said Dhaval Kulkarni, author of a book on ShivSena.
“After all the horse-trading last week, the BJP has basically ended up with[an] egg on its face,” he told AFP.
India has been battling an economic slowdown, and the loss of power inMaharashtra — whose capital Mumbai is home to business tycoons, the stockmarket, and the glitzy Bollywood film industry — is a big blow to Modi.-APP/AFP
