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As Maharashtra moves beyond the ballot battle into a Game of Thrones with the Mahayuti, a celebratory get-together at Varsha -- the Chief Minister official residence -- may be sending out a chair message.
As the NDA inched towards a massive mandate, Deputy Chief Ministers Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar reached Chief Minister Eknath Shinde's residence to congratulate him on the poll victory.
The leaders sat at Varsha, exchanging greetings and smiles, and one sight was unmissable. Eknath Shinde and Devendra Fadnavis sat on identical high-back chairs, Ajit Pawar and Union Minister Ramdas Athawale sat beside them in smaller chairs.
While this may be a pure coincidence, its timing could not have been better. Mr Shinde holds the Chief Minister seat after his rebellion that split the Shiv Sena and brought the BJP back to power in the politically-significant state. After the 2022 rebellion, despite being the big brother in the alliance, the BJP let Mr Shinde take the top post and took a moral high ground. Later, Ajit Pawar led a mutiny that divided the NCP and the rebel MLAs joined the ruling alliance. A former Chief Minister and the tallest BJP leader in Maharashtra, Mr Fadnavis accepted the Number 2 post in the government, albeit grudgingly.
Cut to 2024 and the BJP's all-time best performance is the anchor in NDA's Maharashtra sweep. The BJP has won 130 out of the 148 seats it contested -- a strike rate of nearly 90 per cent. The Shinde Sena has won 54 seats and the Ajit Pawar's NCP 41.
The BJP is likely to stake a claim to the top post. And thanks to its stellar show, it needs only one of its two allies to back it to go past the magic figure in the 288-member Assembly. Mr Shinde and Mr Fadnavis maintained that a decision on the Chief Minister post will be taken at a meeting of the allies. But BJP's strong score gives it considerable leverage and the allies may have to find joy in ministerial berths.
Against this backdrop, the identical chairs occupied by Mr Shinde and Mr Fadnavis send a silent message. Ajit Pawar's smaller chair suggests that he will remain the small brother in the alliance.
The three allies, however, put up a united front after the win. Mr Shinde, Mr Fadnavis and Mr Pawar sat side by side as they addressed the media and detailed the factors behind the NDA's big victory. Chief Minister Shinde sat in the middle, with his two deputies Mr Fadnavis and Mr Pawar flanking him.
The election has been won, but the BJP has its hands full as it negotiates the Game of Thrones that will begin now and asserts its supremacy while balancing the alliance dharma.