What happens to the irrigation scam now, Mr Fadnavis?

The new BJP government in Maharashtra has cleared the trust vote with help from the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP). Will it now be in a position to take stern action against those involved in the mammoth 70,000 crore scam, especially when NCP is accused of having a major role in the scam?

The power equations in the Maharashtra state Assembly have become clear after the trust vote on November 12. The speaker in the Assembly, Haribhau Bagde, cleared the trust vote on the basis of voice vote though the Shiv Sena vociferously demanded a division of votes; and with Sena leader Eknath Shinde being declared opposition leader, it is clear that the Devendra Fadnavis-headed BJP government has made it through the trust vote with NCP support. For its remaining tenure, the BJP government’s existence will depend on this same support.

BJP had emerged as the single largest party in the recent Assembly elections by winning 121 seats – 23 short of an absolute majority. Hectic negotiations with both the Sena and NCP failed to yield results as both insisted on a larger share of ministries than BJP was willing to cede. Till the morning of November 12 Sena had kept its cards close to its chest and it was not clear whether it would support the BJP government. It was also not clear if BJP would take NCP’s support if Sena did choose to support it, since it had earlier viciously attacked the Sharad-Pawar led party with charges of corruption, prominently the irrigation scam.

Both sides had their jobs cut out for them. BJP could not afford to let its hard earned near-victory pass by, and NCP, of course, has too many bigwigs to defend against too many scams.